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Book . Fl 3s 
G ofjyright N°_ _ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSHi 






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Hindu cows in the streets of Delhi, India. Compare this 
picture with the cattle scene on page 
17 of this book. 











FAIRBANKS’ 


NEW GEOGRAPHY 


OF 

* 

CALIFORNIA, THE UNITED STATES AND THE 
WORLD FROM THE POINT OF VIEW 
OF CALIFORNIA CHILDREN 


/ 

, / by 

EJ 

y 

HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, Ph. D. 


Author of 

California Developed According to the Problem Method, Stories of 
Our Mother Earth, Home Geography, The Home and Its Relation to 
the World, Outlines of the Continent, Rocks and Minerals, The 
Western United States. Physical Physiography 



HARR WAGNER PUBLISHING COMPANY 

149 NEW MONTGOMERY STREET 
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 



.FzsC?> 


Copyright 1923 
Harold Wellman Fairbanks 



SEP 13 1923 


©C1A711 864 

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'V'V'V v VCi V \ , » 


CONTENTS 


0 
b 

\ 

)° 

' PART I. CALIFORNIA 


Chapter Page 

Introduction . 7 

1 Climate of California. 9 

2 Natural Resources . 16 

3 Advantages and Disadvantages. 30 

4 How Industries Have Changed. 42 

5 Accessibility of California. 45 

6 Centers of Trades and Industry. 53 

7 Attractions for Visitors. 61 

8 Problem of San Francisco. 64 

9 Problem of Los Angeles. 69 


PART II. THE UNITED STATES 


10 Climate Compared with California. 79 

11 People of North America. 87 

12 Animal and Fish Life.. 91 

13 Growth of Farming. 96 

14 Stock Raising Industries. Ill 

15 Lumber Industry . 115 

16 Manufacturing Industry . 122 

17 Growth of Great Cities. 129 

18 Advantages of the United States. 134 


PART III. THE LANDS BEYOND THE OCEAN 

Introduction . 140 

19 Mediterranean Lands of the Northern Hemisphere. 142 
























20 Mediterranean Lands of the Southern Hemisphere. 148 

21 Food Products Which We Get From Foreign Lands. 153 

22 Food and Food Products From the Island of Java. 155 

a. Products of the Palm Tree. 162 

23 Other Foods and Food Products. 167 

b. Rice and Sugar. 167 

c. Tea, Coffee, Cocoa. 169 

d. Medicinal Substances . 174 

24 Clothing Materials . 178 

a. Wool. 178 

b. Cotton . 182 

c. Flax . 185 

d. Hides .:. 186 

e. Silk . 193 

f. Furs . 195 

25 Trees, Plants, Minerals, Etc., From Other Countries. 199 

a. Woods and Fibers... 199 

b. Minerals and Precious Stones. 201 




















A READER IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA, 
THE UNITED STATES, AND THE WORLD 
FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF 
CALIFORNIA CHILDREN. 


PART L 

California—The Wonderland 

GENERAL PROBLEM. 

A large part of California is occupied by mountains, another 
part is a desert. The largest rivers are navigable for only a short 
distance, and there are few good harbors. What is the reason that 
in spite of what seems to be serious disadvantages California has 
grown in a few years from a thinly settled and almost unknown land 
to one of the foremost states in the Union? Will not the following 
facts help us to solve the problem? • 

1 st—California has great natural wealth and a variety of scenery. 
2nd—California has a healthful and agreeable climate. 

3rd—Anyone, no matter what his occupation, can make a home 
in California and carry on his work amid pleasant sur¬ 
roundings. 


INTRODUCTION. 

1. The first people to come to California in large numbers 
were miners, attracted by the stores of gold in its mountains. 

2. The stockman sought California because of the absence 
of cold winters and the great extent of land affording forage 
for his cattle and sheep. 

3. Farmers came to California because of the rich soil of 
the valleys, where, under sunny skies, they could raise almost 
everything they wished. 

4. The fruit grower found in California climates of so 
many different sorts that they could raise almost every variety 
of temperate and tropical fruits. 

5. The dairyman found in California a land where he 
could produce and market milk, butter and cheese and could 
grow cheaply the grain and alfalfa for his cattle. 




8 


CALIFORNIA 


6. The poultryman found that the climate was favorable 
to raising chickens and turkeys and eggs and the large cities 
afforded a good market. 

7. The lumberman came to supply the rapidly growing 
population with lumber for their houses from the heavy for¬ 
ests that flourished on the mountain slopes. 

8. Fishermen make good catches in the broad belt of shal¬ 
low water that forms a feeding and spawning ground for a 
great variety of food fishes. 

9. The manufacturer once shunned California because he 
thought it had little fuel and that the water power could not be 
used because it was so far away in the mountains. Now un¬ 
limited quantities of fuel oil have been discovered and we have 
learned how to turn the power of the distant waterfalls into 
electricity and carry it wherever we wish to use it. 

10. Traders found that the harbors of California, though 
they were limited in number, formed open doors through which 
produce could be exchanged with all the world. 

11. People who were not well came because of the health¬ 
giving air of the coast, deserts and mountains. 


CALIFORNIA 


9 


CHAPTER 1. 

WHY DOES CALIFORNIA OFFER SUCH AN ATTRACTIVE 
CLIMATE? 

California lies, as can be seen from the map, about half 
way between the cold and snowy belt around the north pole, 
and the hot wet belt following the equator. It extends north¬ 
erly and southerly along the Pacific ocean for about 800 miles, 
but owing to the influence of this great body of water there 
is much less difference in temperature between the north and 
the south than we would expect. How, then, is it that Cali¬ 
fornia has a climate which varies so greatly in different parts 
that every plant which is found between the tropics and the 
arctic circle will grow and thrive here? It is important that 
we find out the answer to this question, since it will help us to 
understand why California is such a great and prosperous state. 

1. Everyone has noticed that the winds usually blow from 
some westerly point; in so doing they must pass over the ocean 
before they reach the land. Everyone has also noticed, if he 
will stop to think a moment, that these winds are always cool. 
Since the ocean changes its temperature but little throughout 
the year and is cool along the whole extent of the California 
coast, the winds that blow across it are but little warmer at San 
Diego than they are at Crescent City, near the Oregon line. 
If we should travel from New York southward along the At¬ 
lantic coast a distance equal to the length of California we 
would find a much greater difference in temperature. This is 
mainly because the winds along the Atlantic coast are common¬ 
ly from the same westerly direction as in California, but there 
they are from the land. Call to mind how hot our land winds 
are in the summer and how cold in winter and you will under¬ 
stand why the people upon the Atlantic coast suffer so much 
greater changes in temperature than we do. We conclude then 
that a coast that has sea winds has an even temperature and 
one that has land winds has great variations in temperature. 

2. We have discovered that the wind by itself would give 
the coast of California an even temperature, but when we come 
to study the winds in connection with the position of the moun- 


10 


CALIFORNIA 


tain ranges, their extent and height, we learn why the climate 
varies so greatly in different places and why we are able to 
raise such a wonderful variety of products. 

Most of the mountain ranges of California run length¬ 
wise of the state; that is, in a northerly and southerly direc¬ 
tion. The San Gabriel and San Bernardino ranges which ex¬ 
tend east and west are the chief exceptions. 

We have only to remember how much warmer it is be¬ 
hind a beach umbrella when the wind is blowing off the ocean, 
or that in the winter, when there is a warm rain in the val¬ 
leys, there is a snow storm upon the mountains, in order to 
understand what a great influence the mountains have upon 
California climate. We must not forget, however, that if there 
were no mountains, but that instead a vast plain stretched in¬ 
land from the ocean, the cool winds would become warm in 
summer when they had passed far enough over the land 
and icy in winter, but the mountains make this change much 
quicker and sharper. 

Mountain ranges border the coast of California nearly its 
whole length, the exception being the plain-like region to the 
south and southwest of Los Angeles. The cool winds blowing 
against these mountains are broken so that the valleys lying 
behind them become very warm. Neither the sea fog nor the 
wind can reach them. Thus, if you want to find the hottest 
place in western California upon a summer day you should go 
to the east side of one of the lofty Coast Ranges. 

This will enable us to understand why the earliest cher¬ 
ries come from the Capay valley west of Sacramento and close 
under the lea of a lofty range of mountains. It enables us 
to understand also why the earliest oranges come from the 
San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. No cool sea winds or 
fogs reach the eastern side of these valleys, while the Los 
Angeles-San Bernardino valley, the largest orange growing- 
region in the State, is open to the ocean winds and fogs. The 
same thing also explains why great quantities of raisins are 
made around Fresno in the San Joaquin valley, and none are 
made in the Los Angeles-San Bernardino valley, although it 
is farther south. 

From what we have already learned, if one wishes to find 
the hottest place in California, would he not cross the next 
range of mountains toward the east? What is this range? 
Death Valley and its extension south in the Mohave desert, 


CALIFORNIA 


11 


together with Imperial valley, have a great summer heat. In 
Death Valley one does not attempt to travel in the open sun 
in summer, but always at night. 

3. The varying amount of rainfall in different parts of 
the State is another factor in climate which has a very great 
influence upon the distribution of people and what they do. 

If you will study the rainfall map you will discover that 
in the northwestern part of the State 80 inches of rain may 
fall in a year, while in the southeastern part it is usually not 
more than two or three inches. Should we not expect to find 
a great difference in the plants that thrive in two regions with 
such difference in rainfall? In the northwest corner vesreta- 
tion is luxuriant and dense. The farmer has to clear the land 
at great expense before he can grow anything and does not 
need to employ irrigation. In the deserts of the southeast the 
vegetation is scanty and has been changed in many curious 
ways by its struggle to live through the long hot summers. 
People can not live in the desert unless they can obtain water 
for irrigation, but when water can be had everything grows 
with astonishing luxuriance. 



A road-side scene in a valley of the Northern Coast Ranges. The 
vegetation is rank because of the heavy rainfall. There are red¬ 
woods, spruce, sycamore, laurel and many kinds of oaks. 



12 


CALIFORNIA 


The difference in rainfall is partly due to the fact that 
the storms which come in from the ocean are more numer¬ 
ous and severe as one goes north, and partly to the influence 
of the mountains. 

The mountain ranges lying across the path of the ocean 
storms affect the rains as they do the fogs and temperature. 
More rain falls on the western slope of the Coast Range than 
in the San Joaquin valley at its eastern base. More snow and 
rain fall on the still higher Sierras, because their summits are 
colder. These high mountains condense so much of the moist¬ 
ure, as the clouds pass over them, that eastern California gets 
very little rain and is barren and desert-like. Once in a while 
rains do fall in the desert and are accompanied by terrific thun¬ 
der and lightning. The rain sometimes comes in torrents or 
cloudbursts, which do great damage to the country. 

4. Mountains make a variety in climate and add untold 
wealth to the State through the increase in rainfall caused by 
their cold summits. 

We have all seen the dark clouds hang over the moun¬ 
tains, while the sun was shining brightly in the lowlands where 
we live. We have seen the lightning and heard the thunder 
of the mountain storms during the summer. If you will watch 
the Weather Bureau reports of winter storms you will often 
notice that, if an inch of water fell where you live, the moun¬ 
tain station reported two to four inches. This is true not only 
of our mountains, but of mountains all over the world, and par¬ 
ticularly noticeable in lands where the general rainfall is light. 

If you will study the map of California you will discover 
that all the large rivers rise in mountains and that the higher 
the mountains are the larger the rivers are that rise in them. 

The moisture that the air carries over the mountains is 
condensed to rain or snow, because of the cold, in just the same 
way as the water particles are condensed upon the outside of 
a glass of ice water upon a warm summer day. 

Although mountains may seem, at first thought, to be of 
little use, yet when we understand them fully and learn how 
they make our rivers, without which the land of our valleys 
could not be cultivated, we appreciate their value. 

We have seen that the mountains cut off the moist winds 
from the valleys to the eastward of them, but at the same time 
they take much more moisture out of the clouds than would 
fall if they were not there, and send down rivers to the farmer 


CALIFORNIA 


13 


to make up for lack of rain. Note on the map the rivers that 
flow down the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains 
and find out what you can about the prosperous settlements 
along their course in the desert. 

Along the eastern base of the Coast Ranges in the Great 
Valley, you will not find many permanent streams, because the 
slope is so short and the crests are not nearly so high as those 
of the Sierras. Note from the map if there are many towns 
along the east base of the Coast Ranges. 

So many storms pass across the northern end of the State 
that this section would be fairly well watered if there were no 
mountains, but the greater part of the interior of California 
would be uninhabitable desert if there were not somewhere 
within reach high mountains to collect the rains and send them 
down streams across this desert to the ocean. 

5. Can you think of any other influence which mountains 
have upon the prosperity and industries of California? Let us 
talk for a few moments about the cold of their highlands. 

Since California lies about half way between the hot 
and the cold belts, we would not expect to find a cold cli¬ 
mate there;- in fact, we know the greater part of the low¬ 
land valleys possesses so mild a climate that all sorts of semi- 
tropical fruits thrive. 

We can see the mountains turn white with snow when 
winter comes; the snow lasts many months, and if we were 
to climb some of the higher peaks we would discover that it 
remains all summer upon the shady slopes. A summer camp¬ 
ing trip to the summit of one of our lofty ranges shows how 
very different mountain climate is from valley climate in the 
same latitude. 

At the base of the mountains are orange orchards, which 
may reach up to 2000 feet. This is as high as the orange 
thrives in California, because above that the winter nights 
are too cold. Above the orange orchards and up to perhaps 
3000 feet there are peaches, pears and cherries, while apples 
reach up to 5000 feet. This is as high as the farmer can make 
his home, but as frosty nights do not prevent grass growing, 
the stockman can go higher still. 

Above where fruit can be raised successfully is the belt 
in which our great forests are found, where huge trees of 
many kinds find a climate that is just suited to their needs. 


14 


CALIFORNIA 


We continue on to 8000 and 9000 feet, where the forest 
trees begin to be smaller and less thrifty. At 11,000 feet only 
a few stunted ones are found clinging close to the ground to 
escape the fierce winter winds. We are now in a region that 
has a climate similar to that of the arctic regions. The win¬ 
ters are so long and cold, the summer nights so frosty, that 
only in protected nooks among the rocks a scanty vegetation 
manages to exist. Here are arctic shrubs and pretty stunted 
arctic flowers. The animals belong to northern varieties, and 
the few birds have migrated here only for the nesting season, 
just as the ducks and geese go far north in the summer to 
their nesting grounds. 

In climbing one of our high mountains one passes through 
all the different climates which one would encounter in travel¬ 
ing thousands of miles from the tropics to the arctic region. 

The cold winters of the mountains are very important for 
the growth of California, for they cause snow to fall instead of 
rain, which would quickly run away to the ocean, while the 
snow does not melt until the warm sun of spring and sum¬ 
mer strikes it, and thus affords a supply of water when the 
farmer needs it. If it were not for the mountain snow-banks 
the streams would run almost dry in summer and there would 
be dangerous floods in the winter. 

California has, then, because of its situation in the warm 
temperate latitude, its situation upon the coast, its cool west¬ 
erly winds, its high mountain ranges, its many storms in the 
northwest, its almost entire absence of storms in the south¬ 
east, such a variety of climate that people coming here from 
almost any part of the earth can find a place for a new home 
where the climate and productions would be similar to those 
of their homeland. 

WHY IS IT THAT CALIFORNIA DOES NOT GROW THE 
FRUITS OF THE TROPICS ALTHOUGH THE HEAT OF 
SOME OF THE INTERIOR VALLEYS IS FULLY AS 
GREAT AS THAT OF LANDS WHERE THE SUN SHINES 
DIRECTLY OVERHEAD? 

The lowlands of the tropics are not only hot, but also 
very moist. Since the sun is there almost, or quite overhead 
throughout the whole year, the temperature remains almost 
the same. The fact that one season is a little drier than 
the other is almost the only thing which distinguishes win¬ 
ter from summer. 


CALIFORNIA 


15 


California, with its hot regions such as Death Valley and 
Imperial valley, lies farther from the equator and the seasonal 
changes are greater. In summer Death Valley is hotter than 
the lands under the equator, while in winter it frequently be¬ 
comes cold enough to freeze. 

In the tropics the air is moist as well as hot. In Death 
Valley it is hot and exceedingly dry in summer. Some sub¬ 
tropical plants, such as the date, thrive in a hot, dry air and 
are not injured by a little frost. Thus in the Imperial and 
the Coachella valleys are growing Sahara desert date palms 
successfully. 

Most tropical plants require not only much water but also 
moist air. The moist hot air we can get only in a conserva¬ 
tory, and not out of doors. Most tropical plants cannot stand 
the least touch of frost, and there are likely to be some frosty 
winter nights in even the hottest valleys of California. 

Rice, which comes to us from the tropics, thrives in Cali¬ 
fornia because it is planted in the spring, like other grains, and 
matures its seed before cold weather comes in the fall. 



Rice fields in the San Joaquin Valley. 





16 


CALIFORNIA 


CHAPTER 2. 

THE MANY SIDED CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA MAKES IT 
A LITTLE WORLD IN ITSELF, WHERE ALMOST EVERY¬ 
THING CAN BE GROWN. HOWEVER, THIS WONDER¬ 
FUL CLIMATE ALONE DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHY 
THERE ARE SO MANY OCCUPATIONS CARRIED ON 
HERE. WE MUST ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE 
CHARACTER OF THE SURFACE, NATURAL RESOURCES, 
THE NATURE OF THE RIVERS AND COAST, RAINFALL 
AND THE EASE OF COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER 
PARTS OF THE WORLD. 

A. In How Far Have the Surface Features Aided in Making 
California a Land of Many Industries? 

If California were a vast plain, like much of the Missis¬ 
sippi Valley, Southern Russia and Argentina, the life, con¬ 
ditions and industries would be much the same over its whole 
extent. California is, however, one of the most broken and 
mountainous countries of the world, but its area is so large 
that in spite of the mountains there are fertile lowlands large 
enough to support many millions of farmers and fruit growers. 

The State contains Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain 
in the United States outside of Alaska, and Mt. Shasta, one 
of the loftiest extinct volcanoes. 

The Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges inclose the lozenge¬ 
shaped San Joaquin-Sacramento valley, the largest fertile and 
well watered lowland in western North America. The most of 
this valley is still thinly settled. The island of Java, in the 
East Indies, which is no larger, supports thirty million people, 
most of whom depend upon the soil. 

There are also many beautiful and fertile valleys among 
the Coast Ranges. In the south there are the Los Angeles- 
San Bernardino valley, Imperial valley, San Fernando valley, 
and numerous others. 

Great areas of fertile land in the deserts of eastern Cali¬ 
fornia remain unproductive for lack of water. Some of these 
will probably some time get water from the Colorado river. 

In the foothills and lower mountains much of the land is 
too rough and rocky for cultivation. The people who live upon 


CALIFORNIA 


17 


these slopes engage in the mixed occupations of general farm¬ 
ing, fruit growing and stock raising. Some kinds of fruit, 
such as apples, pears and prunes, take on a better quality in 
these higher lands and command a better price in the mar¬ 
kets. The slopes, too rough for any kind of cultivation, sup¬ 
port hogs and beef cattle. 

2. The surface features influence the character and distribu¬ 
tion of the stock-raising industry: Great numbers of hogs are 
raised in the foothills because there they have a large range 
and almost support themselves. In the valleys, where the land 
is more valuable, they are not, however, allowed to range but 
are kept in small enclosures and fed grain, corn and alfalfa, 
raised by their owners. 

Sheep were once allowed to range freely over the public 
lands, but they did so much damage to vegetation upon the 
mountains that their pastures are restricted. They dispute 
with cattle the remote and inaccessible slopes where farming 
cannot profitably be carried on. The farmer needs good roads 
to get his products to market, but stock can be driven over 
rough mountain trails. 

Nearly all the region of the Coast Ranges where rains 
afford grasses was once given over to raising beef cattle. 
Some of the great ranches still exist and are used as cattle 
ranges today, but most of them have been cut up into farms, 



Cattle grazing in a mountain valley. 




18 


CALIFORNIA 


so that now there are thousands of homes where once there 
was only one. 

The raising of range cattle is now confined to the rough 
and rather inaccessible portions of the Sierra Nevada and 
Klamath mountains, the volcanic plateau in northeastern Cal¬ 
ifornia, and the mountains of southern California. 

B. In How Far Have the Natural Resources Aided in Mak¬ 
ing California a State of Many Industries? 

1. California is rich in deposits of minerals of many kinds: 

It was the discovery of gold in the gravels of the streams of 
the Sierra Nevada mountains that started the rapid growth 
of California. Mining was the first important industry of the 
State. The men who sought gold in the gravels were called 
“placer miners”. These men were followed by “quartz min¬ 
ers”, who dug deep shafts and long tunnels in the earth as 
they followed the veins of gold bearing quartz. In other parts 
of the State, silver, lead, copper and quicksilver mining are 
carried on. 

Mining is important in California, partly because this is 
a land of mountains. If there were no mountains, upon whose 
steep sides the rocks that contain the various finerals are ex¬ 
posed, the soil would cover the rocks so deeply that we would 
not be able to find these minerals. 

But metal mining is not the only kind of mining in Cali¬ 
fornia. In the desert basins of California are found deposits 
of salt, soda, borax and nitrates. Long ago, when the climate 
was wetter than it is now, these basins were occupied by lakes 
which had no outlets. The various salts which we have men¬ 
tioned were dissolved in the water, but when this dried up they 
were left mixed with the mud upon the bottoms. 

There are few coal mines in California, for the beds of 
coal are small and of rather poor quality. Coal is formed 
from the accumulation of vegetable matter in swamps. Long 
ago there were vast swamps in the central and eastern part 
of the United States, and in them was formed the coal that 
is such a necessity for heating and manufacturing. Califor¬ 
nia must always have been mountainous, with few swamps in 
which the material for coal could gather. 

Most of the coal used in California is either brought upon 
ships from distant lands or upon railroads from the Rocky 
Mountain region. The lack of cheap coal delayed for many 
years the growth of manufacturing industries. 


CALIFORNIA 


19 


Now, however, something has been found which takes the 
place of coal for most purposes. This is petroleum, and Cali¬ 
fornia has become one of the most important centers in the 
world for this industry. 

In the foothills bordering the central and southern part 
of the San Joaquin valley, in the Coast Ranges and in the 
region about Los Angeles there are thousands of wells pro¬ 
ducing millions of barrels of oil yearly. The heavier varieties 
of this oil are used for fuel, while from the lighter ones gaso¬ 
line and lubricating oils are extracted. The drilling of wells, 
the pumping, refining and shipping of the petroleum has be¬ 
come the most important mining industry in the State and 
employs many thousands of men. 

The deposits of precious metals were formed in fissures 
in the rocks as the mountains grew. Hot water crept up 
through these fissures from far down in the earth, bringing 
with it different minerals in solution. These minerals were 
deposited in the fissures or veins. 

The story of petroleum is very different from that of 
either coal or the metals. Those parts of California where 
petroleum is found were once beneath the ocean. The waters 



The Santa Fe Springs Oil District near Los Angeles. Note that the 
wells have been drilled right in the midst of orange groves. 












20 


CALIFORNIA 


of this were filled with fish and an infinite number of tiny sea 
animals and plants. As these animals died their bodies set¬ 
tled to the bottom and finally became deeply buried beneath 
sand and mud. After a long time, when these deposits had 
been turned into rock, the sea bottom was raised and became 
dry land. The soft parts of the little organisms buried in the 
rocks gave rise to illuminating gas and petroleum which col¬ 
lected in any porous rocks which were near at hand. After 
the sea bottom, with its deposits of gas and petroleum, had 
become land, the water in some places wore away the rocks 
until the beds of oil were exposed. In other places gas and 
petroleum followed little cracks in the rocks upward to the 
surface, in this manner showing the oil prospector where to 
erect his derrick and bore. To reach the oil sands some of the 
wells have been drilled more than a mile deep. 

2. California possesses great wealth in her forests: The dif¬ 
ferences in rainfall over the State do not affect the farming 
industry as much as one would at first think. The farmer 
either adapts his crops to the rainfall of the region in which 
he lives or he joins with other farmers and organizes an irri¬ 
gation district for the purpose of bringing the needed water 
from some mountain stream. The natural vegetation, how¬ 
ever, cannot help itself to water and has to take what the clouds 
bring; and thus we find just what we expect, and that is a 
wonderful variation in the nature and character of the plant 
life between parts where it rains 80 inches yearly and parts 
where it rains only one to three inches. 

If California were wholly a lowland plain, only the north¬ 
ern and coastal regions would have rain enough for forest 
growth. Toward the interior, shrubs and grasses would re¬ 
place the trees and beyond these the country would be a true 
desert. But since mountains double and triple the rainfall, 
and California is a land of lofty mountains, we find forest 
belts scattered through the interior wherever the surface is 
high and cold enough to condense sufficient rain or snow. 

Thus a forest map of California comes pretty close to be¬ 
ing a rainfall map and tells us quite accurately whether the 
rainfall in any particular section is heavy or light. 

Some of the deserts of the world, such as the Sahara and 
the deserts of South America, have no rain and are without 
plants, but our California deserts all get a little rain and sup- 


CALIFORNIA 


21 


port plants of a strange and interesting appearance which have 
so changed as to get along with very little moisture. Some 
of these plants, such as the cactuses, store up water. The Mexi¬ 
can creosote bush has a resinous sap which protects it from 
evaporation, while other plants have small leaves for the same 
purpose. 

The valleys nearer the coast receive more rain and their 
vegetation is different. Flowering plants give them a brilliant 
appearance in the spring; the most noticeable of these flowers 
is the California poppy, the State flower. Besides the flowers, 
there are many grasses, which afford forage for stock. The 
Great Valley is the best example of such valleys. However, 
this valley is really a plain, because it is of such vast extent. 
Between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River is 
another vast plain which is treeless for lack of water. We 
journey to southeastern Russia and find the treeless Steppes; 
to northern Siberia, where the plains are treeless because of the 
cold, or to South America, where the Pampas and Llanos are 
quite similar. 

The Great Valley of California is a type of all these plains, 
and before the development of irrigation, their industries were 
similar. In the drier parts of the southern San Joaquin, cattle 
and sheep raising was once the only industry. Farther north, 
oats and barley were grown, still farther north wheat afforded 
good yields. 

Only a few trees are found in the San Joaquin Valley, and 
these are mostly along the water courses. In the Sacramento 
Valley there is more rain, and parts of it are dotted with 
great oaks. 

Let us now ascend the lofty Sierras, from the San Joaquin 
Valley, and see what we can learn about the forests. In the 
foothills we come upon groves of oak, but the trees are gnarly 
and of little value to the lumberman. They do, however, afford 
good wood which, because of the scarcity of fuel in the valleys, 
brings a high price. 

As we go higher the rainfall increases and we at last 
reach an altitude where it is sufficient to support flourishing 
pine forests. If we had begun our investigation of California 
forests upon the northwest coast, we would have found them 
descending to the sea level, because of the heavy rainfall. If 
we had commenced by climbing the San Bernardino Moun¬ 
tains, we would have had to climb to 5000 feet (about a mile 


22 


CALIFORNIA 


above the sea level) before we came to forests of the same 
trees. In our climb of the Sierras, from the San Joaquin Valley, 
we shall have to go about 3000 feet before reaching pine for¬ 
ests (coniferous forests). 



The sugar pine is the most valuable of all the California lumber trees 
It is becoming scarcer every year because of fires 
and wasteful lumbering. 








CALIFORNIA 


23 


Yellow pines, sugar pines, fir and cedar of the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains form one of the finest forests of its kind 
in the world. Judging from the rainfall map, we should find a 
similar condition in the Klamath Mountains, the volcanic pla¬ 
teau region, the higher parts of the Coast Ranges, and the San 
Bernardino, San Gabriel and Incopah Mountains of Southern 
California. Incopah is a new name for the mountain range 
extending south from Mt. San Jacinto into Lower California. 

These forests are not conveniently situated for lumbering, 
because they are high upon the slopes in a very rough and 
rugged country. It is difficult to build roads and railroads into 
these regions. The streams are too swift and rocky to permit 
floating the logs down them, as is done in the Eastern States, 
consequently the camps and mills are established as near as 
possible to the trees that are to be cut; then a flume is built 
from the mills down the mountains to the nearest valley rail¬ 
road; this flume is filled with water and the lumber is thus 
floated to market. 

The redwoods love the damp and sheltered valleys near 
the coast and are to be found from Monterey county north to 
the Oregon line. This valuable lumber tree grows so close to 
the coast that it can easily be made use of, and if greater care 
is not soon taken all the available trees will soon be gone. A 
strong effort is now being made to preserve the best groves of 
these giant trees in State or National parks. 

The center of the redwood lumber industry is in the vicin¬ 
ity of Eureka, upon Humboldt bay, where are located some of 
the greatest saw mills in the world. Humboldt bay, although 
its entrance is not deep enough for the largest boats, is the 
third best natural harbor upon the coast of California. So 
great an expanse of mountains lies back of Eureka that the 
agricultural products shipped are small in value compared with 
that of the lumber. 

WHAT IS THE OBJECT OF RESERVING LARGE AREAS OF 
THE CALIFORNIA FORESTS AS PARKS AND NATIONAL 
FORESTS INSTEAD OF PERMITTING THE LUMBERMEN 
TO CUT THEM DOWN? 

The first reason is that our forests are among the wonders 
of the world. The giant redwoods of the Coast Ranges and the 
“Big Trees” of the Sierras are found nowhere else. We wish 
to preserve the best groves of these trees for all time, so that 
those who live here after us may see what Nature has done for 


24 


CALIFORNIA 


our State. If we destroy the best that she gave us, not only of 
the trees, but also of the animals, for the sake of our pront 
alone, we would be exceedingly selfish and deserve to lose our 
prosperity, as people have in other parts of the world who 

have done this thing. 

Our forests form also one of the attractions foi torn ists, 
and it would not pay to destroy them if we thought only of the 
money they brought into California. 

Another reason for preservation of the best of the forests 
in National and State parks, is that our climate favors out door 
life. The cool forests and the wild mountain scenery calls, on 
us to go camping, and so breathing in strength and inspiration, 
we return home better able to do our work. 

A third reason is that the forests upon the mountain 
slopes help hold back the rain water, so that it does not run 
off as rapidly as it would if the surface were bare. For this 
reason the National Government has reserved great forest 
areas about the headwaters of the streams. The paiks are kept 
just as Nature made them; neither the trees, flowers, animals 
nor birds are allowed to be disturbed. 



Artificial terracing to save what is left of the soil when the forests 
are gone. Wu-t’ai-shan, Shan-si Province, China. 






CALIFORNIA 


25 


I he timber of the National Forests, where it can be cut 
without endangering the water supply, is open to the lumber¬ 
men under certain conditions: They must cut the trees with 
care; the waste material must be piled and burned, so as not 
to endanger the surrounding forest, and a sufficient number 
of trees must be left to supply the seed for a new genera¬ 
tion of trees. 

The prosperity of the California farmer and fruit grower 
depends upon the water supply, and if the summer flow of the 
stream is reduced, he is injured. Where the lumberman has 
cut the forest clean and fires have swept through it, there is 
nothing on the ground to hold back the rains and melting 
snows. The water runs off rapidly, carrying the best of the 
surface soil with it. In the summer there is less flow, because 
less of the water sank into the ground to feed the springs. 

If we could travel to China and the countries about the 
Mediterranean Sea, we would be able to see how people suffer 
now because their ancestors were careless and destroyed the 
forests that once covered their mountain slopes. 

Still another reason for the Government watching over 
the forests is that if left to greedy men they would be quickly 
ruined here in California, as they have been throughout much 
of the east. Lumber would become scarce and high priced. 

By carefully cutting and replanting the forest, and at the 
same time guarding against fire, California can preserve her 
wonderful forests for all time. 

HOW HAS THE LACK OF RAIN IN CERTAIN PARTS OF 
THE STATE MADE POSSIBLE INDUSTRIES WHICH 
OTHERWISE COULD NOT BE CARRIED ON? 

1. The presence of beds of rock salt, soda, borax and 
nitrate in the deserts is due to the almost entire absence of 
rain. If much rain fell, the water would gather in these basins 
and form lakes. The salt would be dissolved in the water of 
the lakes, and if the water overflowed and ran away to the 
ocean the salts would be lost. The salt commonly called 
Chile saltpeter, which farmers prize so much as a fertilizer 
for their fields, comes from a South American desert where 
it never rains. 

2. The growth of the raisin industry is due to hot sum¬ 
mers and the absence of early fall rains in the San Joaquin 
Valley, and those valleys of southern California which are pro¬ 
tected from ocean winds. 


26 


CALIFORNIA 



A field of Thompson seedless grapes near Fresno. This is the rich 
delta of the Kings river with its abundant water supply. 
















CALIFORNIA 


27 


Fresno has become the center of the raisin industry, but 
the whole of the southern half of the San Joaquin Valley is 
equally well adapted to the growing and curing of the raisin 
grape. Once the people of the United States imported their 
raisins from Spain, but parts of California, and Arizona have 
been found to produce such fine raisins that now we supply 
most of this fruit that is used in the United States. 

3. The production of sugar beets and beans, two things 
for which California is noted, is determined not so much by 
the amount of rainfall as by the presence of damp fogs in 
which the coast valleys are bathed during the time of the hot 
weather in the interior valleys. 

The weather in which beets thrive is just opposite of 
that required for the growing of sweet grapes and their trans¬ 
formation into raisins. 

TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE CHARACTER OF THE 
RIVERS INFLUENCED THE INDUSTRIES THAT HAVE 
GROWN UP IN CALIFORNIA? 

If some one had asked us what we thought of mountains 
before we began studying geography, we would probably have 
said they were a nuisance; that the farmers could not use them 
and that they stood in the way of building roads and railroads; 
but as we go along, we learn more and more of their impor¬ 
tance and how very useful they are. 

To the presence of the mountains we owe our minerals; 
to the mountains we owe the heavy rains that produce tne for¬ 
ests upon their slopes; to the mountains we owe the rivers 
that supply water for irrigation. 

Another use besides irrigation has been found for the 
streams which dash down through the mountain canyons— 
that is, we have learned how to turn their power, which was 
once wasted, into electricity for doing all kinds of work. 

If California had been settled long ago by the people who 
came across the ocean to New England, they would have found 
it very difficult to use the water power of the California rivers 
for turning their mills, as they did that of the streams of the 
Atlantic coast. 

Throughout the valleys of California, the streams flow 
gently and afford no power for turning mills. In the south¬ 
ern part of the State they usually sink in their sandy beds be¬ 
fore reaching the ocean. The rapids and waterfalls are mostly 



28 


CALIFORNIA 


in the remote and inaccessible mountain gorges. It would 
never have been profitable to build mills and factories in the 
mountains because of the expense of building roads and get¬ 
ting material in and out. The New England streams flow 
swiftly right down to the bays into which they empty, and 
so the water power was almost at the front door of the set¬ 
tlers of that region. 

It was not until we discovered how to carry electric en¬ 
ergy upon copper wires, for hundreds of miles, that the water 
power of the mountain streams could be used. Now many 
power plants have been built in the canyons of the Sierra Ne¬ 
vada mountains. Each plant requires only a few people to care 
for it; the copper wires carry the electricity down to the valleys 
where people live, and to the great cities upon the coast where 
it is used to do all kinds of work for us. 

HOW MUCH HAS THE COAST TO DO WITH THE INDUS¬ 
TRIES OF CALIFORNIA? 

The fact that California has nearly 1000 miles of coast 
line has led to the development of industries which an inland 
State does not have. There is, first, fishing, which is favored 
by the submarine shelf which extends out to the islands. The 
shallow waters of this shelf afford immense numbers of food 
fish a congenial home. Since there are few harbors and abun¬ 
dant opportunities for work on land, not so many of the inhab¬ 
itants become sailors as is the case in a land such as New Eng¬ 
land, which has a rocky soil unfavorable to farming, and in¬ 
numerable bays which encourage life upon the water. The 
larger number of the sailors who voyage to and from our 
shores are foreigners; most of the fishermen are also foreign¬ 
ers. Why are they mostly Greeks, Portuguese and Italians? 

HAS THE FACT THAT CALIFORNIA IS FROM TWO TO 
THREE THOUSAND MILES FROM THE CENTERS OF 
INDUSTRY OF OUR COUNTRY HAD ANY INFLUENCE 
UPON THE GROWTH OF ITS INDUSTRIES? 

For many years after the discovery of gold, and down to 
the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, in 1867, all the 
manufactured goods for use in California had to come either 
by way of the Isthmus of Panama or around Cape Ptorn. Af¬ 
ter the building of the railroads, supplies of needed articles 
were easier to get, but the freight made them cost much mere, 
especially heavy goods. 


CALIFORNIA 


29 


This condition tended to make Californians depend upon 
themselves as much as possible and encouraged manufacturing 
industries of many kinds. But since there was little water 
power accessible, and coal was high priced, manufacturing 
has only recently begun to assume great importance. What 
conditions at present favor manufacturing and are causing 
the building of many factories? 

ARE THERE ANY INDUSTRIES THAT HAVE SPRUNG UP 
INDEPENDENT OF GEOGRAPHICAL REASONS? 

1. The fruit canning industry has become more impor¬ 
tant than anywhere else in the world. The growth of this 
industry can be partly accounted for by geographical reasons. 
If California had clustered about it the many millions of peo¬ 
ple who live in the Eastern and Central States, there would 
be a much better market for fresh fruit than there is at pres¬ 
ent. The people of California can eat only a small part of 
the fresh fruit that is grown here, and it is very expensive to 
ship it east in refrigerator cars, consequently the canning in¬ 
dustry has grown up in an attempt to save the fruit that can 
not be eaten or dried. In sealed cans the fruit will keep a long 
time and can be shipped to distant parts of the world. 

The miners of California had to invent the machinery 
they required to crush the ores and separate the metals from 
them. California mining machinery has become noted all over 
the world where gold mining is carried on. The San Fran¬ 
cisco bay region is the headquarters for this industry. 

2. Shipbuilding developed early on San Francisco bay 
because of the great extent of quiet water and the nearness 
to the forests of spruce and pine. Iron and steel are used so 
much in the making of modern ships that another port far¬ 
ther from the lumber supply has become a shipbuilding cen¬ 
ter—San Pedro, the new port of Los Angeles, is now engaged 
in building large ships. 


30 


CALIFORNIA 


CHAPTER 3. 

WHY IS IT THAT IN SPITE OF SOME DISADVANTAGES 
OF LIVING IN CALIFORNIA, PEOPLE NEVERTHELESS 
THINK THE ADVANTAGES OUTWEIGH THEM, AND 
EVER SINCE THE BUILDING OF RAILROADS HAVE 
COME HERE IN INCREASING NUMBERS? 

A. Disadvantages of Life in California. 

1. Earthquakes frequently occur and some of these have 
been very destructive. Mission San Juan Capistrano was de¬ 
stroyed by an earthquake more than 100 years ago. The earth¬ 
quake of 1906 was the most destructive of any since the set¬ 
tlement of the State. For a distance of 200 miles through the 
central Coast Ranges a fissure was formed, and along this the 
earth slipped. The water mains of San Francisco were broken 
and a large part of the city was destroyed by fire. 

But if we put up strong buildings, we need have little 
fear of earthquakes. They are really a blessing in disguise, 



This is a scene upon the great earthquake rift in the Coast Ranges 
north of San Francisco. The great earthquake of 1906 left a 
track in many places like that of a giant plow. 




CALIFORNIA 


31 


for they have had to do with movements of the earth which 
have given us mountains. The Sierra Nevada range is a great 
block of the earth raised to its present position during repeated 
earthquake movements. If there had been no earthquakes we 
would have had few lofty mountains. Without mountains, 
there would have been no rivers of any size to supply water 
for irrigation. The most of California would always have re¬ 
mained a thinly settled, half desert region. 

2. California is a long distance from that portion of the 
United States containing most of the people and the centers 
of trade and industry. It takes four days of continuous travel 
on a fast train to reach Washington, the capitol of our coun¬ 
try. It took the Pony Express eight days to reach California 
from the Mississippi river. The emigrant with the ox team 
took three months for the same journey. The hardships of 
the journey were increased by the fact that much of the dis¬ 
tance was over mountains and deserts. 

3. The chief market for fresh fruit and vegetables is two 
to three thousand miles distant. This necessitates specially 
prepared refrigerator cars in order that the perishable prod¬ 
ucts may reach their destination in a fresh condition. This 
adds to the shipping expenses and leaves less profit for the 
California fruit grower. 

4. The larger part of the manufactured goods, of almost 
every description, used here is made in the east. Shipping 
them so far adds much to their cost. Very heavy, bulky arti¬ 
cles are often shipped by water. This once required a very 
long voyage, but since the building of the Panama Canal, the 
water route has been much shortened. 

5. Compare Imperial Valley (Colorado Desert), as it is 
today, with the present Mohave Desert. 

6. The coast has few good harbors. The narratives of the 
early navigators who first sailed along the California coast tell 
us that they could find no good safe harbors in which to stop. 

7. Study the map and you will discover how regular the 
shore line is. Compare it with that of British Columbia and 
New England. If our ancestors who came across the Atlantic 
ocean and settled in New England had found a coast like that 
of California, how do you think they would have fared ? Read 
the stories of the early Spanish navigators and you will be able 
to appreciate how difficult and dangerous the California coast 
appeared long ago. 


32 


CALIFORNIA 


The California coast is bordered by mountain ranges, 
which in most places rise quite abruptly from the shore. The 
navigable bays we have, such as Humboldt, San Francisco, 
San Pedro and San Diego, were formed by the sinking of the 
land. San Francisco bay is the best example of a great in¬ 
land body of water, being formed by the sinking of the land 
and the flooding of the lower Sacramento River Valley. The 
formation of the smaller bays mentioned was aided by the 
waves throwing up barrier beaches or bars in front of them. 

The New England coast is also a sunken one, but the sur¬ 
face of the land was broken by so many streams between which 
were rocky ridges that many deep bays were formed. 

B. The Advantages and Attractions Possessed by California. 

1. The climate of California is healthful. Except for 
some of the desert valleys, it is not uncomfortably warm, and 
except for the high mountains and plateaus it is not disagree¬ 
ably cold. The climate of most of the lowland valleys is mild 
and pleasant throughout the year, and although the winters 
are cold and snowy in the mountain valleys, the greater part 
of the year is delightful. 

Because of the ocean winds the temperature near the coast 
varies but little. Southern California is noted for its pleasant 
winter climate, and that is one of the reasons it is visited by 
thousands of tourists. During the summer the beaches be¬ 
tween San Francisco and San Diego are dotted with people. 
Upon a warm day we can find perhaps one hundred thousand 
people upon the beaches within reach of Los Angeles. 

2. Except in the mountains, there are no long cold win¬ 
ters. In all the States lying to the east and northeast of Cali¬ 
fornia, the winters are long and often very cold. In all this 
region livestock has to be kept in barns and fed for about six 
months. During this period the farmer can do but little work 
out of doors. Over all of California, except in the mountains, 
the winter is so mild that work is not interfered with, and 
cattle can graze. We see that in the case of California lati¬ 
tude has little to do with the climate, but that the influence of 
ocean winds and the mountains has been very great. 

3. The scenery of California is very attractive. There is 
so much that is interesting and beautiful within the boundaries 
of the State that it would be a great undertaking to see it all. 

There are lofty, picturesque mountain ranges, such as 
the Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino and Klamath mountains. 


CALIFORNIA 


33 


There are great extinct volcanoes, such as Shasta; Mount 
Lassen is still active and in its neighborhood are cinder cones, 
rugged flows of lava and boiling springs. There are deep 



The Kings river flows a large stream all summer because it rises 
among the highest mountains of California where 

heavy snows fall. 







CALIFORNIA 


34 

/ 

canyons, such as the Yosemite and Kings River, noted far 
and wide for their wonderful cliffs and waterfalls. There are 
many hundreds of beautiful glacial lakes in the Sierra Nevada 
mountains, overhung by cliffs and banks of perpetual snow. 
There are other alkaline lakes, such as Mono and Ovens, lying 
in desert basins. There are great trees, such as the redwoods 
in the Coast Ranges and the “Big Trees” in the Sierras. Some 
of these are three to four thousand years old. Since the moun¬ 
tains lie close to the ocean along most of the coast, the shore 
is rocky and picturesque. There are many mineral springs, 
the waters of which have medicinal properties. 

4. Great differences of climate within a few miles add 
to the attractiveness of the land. 

No matter where your home is, whether in a hot valley, 
upon a mountain side, where the winters are cold, or upon the 
cool foggy coast, a journey of only a few miles will bring you 
to a climate that is very different. Thus the dwellers in all 
of these three regions can have a change of climate, with very 
little effort or expense. They can get a change which would 
require a journey of a thousand miles in many parts of the 
world. Nowhere else are conditions more favorable for out¬ 
door life. Californians should grow up strong and healthy. 
The long dry summers make mountaineering very much more 
pleasant than in the Alps, where it rains nearly every day, and 
no one ever thinks of sleeping out of doors. 

5. California has few severe storms and no tornadoes or 
hurricanes. We often read in the newspapers of destructive 
tornadoes which sweep across the States of the Mississippi 
Valley. The Southern States are sometimes visited by hurri¬ 
canes which start in the West Indies Islands. These storms 
are similar to the little dust whirls that we have all seen mov¬ 
ing across the fields picking up light articles in their courses, 
only that they are much larger and more powerful. The rains 
which visit California in the winter come with very large 
whirls, usually many hundreds of miles across. The wind in 
these storms does not blow very hard and seldom does damage. 

The thunder storms, which occur mostly in the mountains, 
in the summer, are rather alarming at times, but aside from 
the forest fires, which they sometimes start, they do very little 
harm and much good, because the torrents of rain go to swell 
the streams at a time when water is most needed for irrigation. 

During the spring and fall there is occasionally, in south- 


CALIFORNIA 


35 


ern California, a dry desert wind called the “Santa Ana.” This 
fills the air with a cloud of dust and is not only very disagree¬ 
able, but injures tender plants. 

6. California has a climate which makes irrigation nec¬ 
essary. Many of us have come to California from some one 
of the Eastern States, where there are summer rains and irri¬ 
gation is not practiced. When we saw the amount of work 
that had to be done to water the crops where there was no 
summer rain, we thought the people who had to farm in such 
a country were to be pitied. It did not take us long to learn 
better. The story of how people first learned to farm tells us 
that the earliest farmers, and those who were most successful, 
were those who lived in the lands where so little rain fell that 
irrigation had to be depended on. Among these people were 
the farmers of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. 

The Spaniards who first settled in California found here 
a climate like that to which they were accustomed in their old 
home in Spain. Spain borders the Mediterranean Sea and all 
the countries around this sea have much the same climate. For 
this reason the name of the sea has been given to their climate. 
California has, then, a Mediterranean climate. 



A method of irrigation called “irrigating by squares.” The water is 
held in the squares by little ridges of earth until the 
ground is thoroughly soaked. 


















36 


CALIFORNIA 


It is very easy to see the advantages of irrigation—and 
there are many. By using irrigation, water can be turned 
on the garden, orchard, grain field or alfalfa field, just when 
it is needed. 

In the Eastern States, where summer rains are usually 
sufficient, there are seasons when there is too much and the 
crops are killed; there are other years when there is not 
enough rain and the crops dry up. In a region where the 
growing season is long, as in California, irrigation enables 
one to grow several crops in a year, where, without it, only 
one, at most, could be produced. 

It took the emigrants from the Eastern States a long 
time to learn what a wonderful State this is. They thought 
at first that the valleys which become so dry and parched in 
summer were worthless for the farmer, and so used them only 
as pastures; then they discovered that grain would grow, if 



This is the bottom of the canon of the Colorado in which it is 
planned to build the greatest dam in the world to hold 
water for irrigating the desert regions of 
California and Arizona. 




CALIFORNIA 


37 


land along this river, and although Shasta Valley can be wa¬ 
tered from it, mountains in the way make it impossible to turn 
its waters southward to the Sacramento Valley. 

The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, getting their 
waters from many tributaries, chiefly from the high Sierras, 
supply the Great Valley. We cannot imagine rivers more fav¬ 
orably situated for the purpose of irrigation than are these. 
Trace the two main rivers mentioned and explain why there 
are so few tributaries from the Coast Ranges. Large areas, 
particularly on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley, are 
still uncultivated for the lack of water. In the spring there 
are, however, often serious floods in the Sacramento River 
Valley, and an enormous quantity of water runs away to the 
ocean through San Francisco Bay. When sufficient reservoirs 
have been made in the mountains to hold back the flood waters 
and save them for summer use, the farmers will be benefited in 
two ways: the rich overflow delta lands along the Sacramento 
river will be made dry enough for cultivation and the forest 
lands of the San Joaquin Valley can be supplied with water. 

Southern California is more poorly supplied with water 
than northern California, partly because there is less rain and 
partly because of the smaller extent of lofty mountains. 



This is a scene upon the delta of the Sacramento river. The cultiva¬ 
tion of the rich soil has been made possible by dikes or 
levees which protect it from overflow. 






38 


CALIFORNIA 


Because of the peculiar attractiveness of its scenery and 
climate, Southern California is increasing in population very 
rapidly. From where will come the water to supply its cities, 



Los Angeles Aqueduct crossing a desert valley. Note how heavy and 
strong the pipe is in order to withstand the 
pressure of the water. 









CALIFORNIA 


39 


orchards and gardens? The Tejunga and San Gabriel rivers 
supply the Los Angeles region, while the Santa Ana river 
affords water for the fertile valley through which it flows. 
The Santa Ana is the largest river of southern California 
and rises on the slopes of the San Gorgonia and San Bernar¬ 
dino, the two highest peaks. 

During particularly wet winters the streams of southern 
California carry an immense quantity of water away to the 
ocean, unused. It will be necessary to build many great res¬ 
ervoirs to hold this water. 

When Los Angeles outgrew its water supply from the 
Los Angeles - Tejunga river, other sources were looked for. 
The only possible stream that could be brought to southern 
California was Owens river, at the eastern base of the Sierra 
Nevada mountains. This river is supplied by melting snows 
of this lofty range, and only a part of it was used by the farm¬ 
ers scattered along its valley; consequently Los Angeles built 
an aqueduct 250 miles long and brought Owens river across 
the Mohave Desert and through the mountains. Now there 
is water not only for the needs of the city but also for the 
irrigation of thousands of acres of rich land in the San Fer¬ 
nando Valley. 

The Colorado is the greatest river that touches Califor¬ 
nia, and the last one to be made use of. For years after the 
settlement of California, this river flowed through the Colo¬ 
rado Desert and no one thought of attempting to turn its wa¬ 
ters on to the rich but parched soil. A portion of the desert, 
Imperial Valley, has now been transformed into one of the 
most productive of the State, by irrigation. 

WHY ARE THE STREAMS OF THE COAST RANGES OF SO 
LITTLE VALUE FOR IRRIGATION, ALTHOUGH MOST 
OF THE REGION RECEIVES A GOOD RAINFALL? 

We give the name “Coast Ranges” to the mountains be¬ 
tween the Great Valley and the ocean. They extend from the 
Klamath mountains on the north to the San Emedio mountains 
at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The greater 
part of the Coast Ranges do not rise over three to four thou¬ 
sand feet. Because they are not high and cold enough, most 
of the moisture comes as rain, while in the Sierras it is mostly 
snow. The winter and spring rains run off quickly in floods, 
leavirig the streams low, and in many cases almost dry in sum¬ 
mer, when their water is needed for irrigation. 


40 


CALIFORNIA 


planted early enough, and finally that, with water, taken from 
some nearby stream, they could raise almost anything. 

7. California has sufficient water, when it is properly 
stored, to irrigate nearly all her rich valleys. The ocean winds 
bring the clouds, the mountains help to condense the moisture 
into rain and snow. The rivers bear the water to the valleys, 
where the thirsty land awaits it; but if it were not for irri¬ 
gation the rivers would flow on to the ocean, moistening only 
their immediate banks. In the drier valleys of California, trees 
grow naturally only along the banks of the rivers. 

Some half-desert lands as well as real deserts are without 
water for irrigation. If they have a little rain, there will be 
vegetation in the spring, and stock can be pastured on them 
for a few weeks. 

California has many rivers, and though only the San Joa¬ 
quin and Sacramento are large enough for navigation, yet they 
serve both for generating electricity and for irrigation. 

ALTHOUGH CALIFORNIA HAS ABUNDANT WATER FOR 
IRRIGATION, HAS THIS WATER, IN ALL CASES, BEEN 
DISTRIBUTED BY NATURE WHERE IT IS WANTED 
MOST? 

One of the largest rivers which has nearly all of its course 
in California is the Klamath, but no other is so unfavorably 
situated for use in irrigation. This river rises in southern Ore¬ 
gon, but practically all its course is through the steep and rug¬ 
ged Klamath mountains to the ocean. 

The Salinas river has the largest basin of any stream in 
the Coast Ranges, but except for a few months its bed is for 
miles completely dry. What water there is, is flowing deep 
down through the sand. Water is much needed in the basin 
of this river, but reservoirs will have to be built before much 
irrigation can be carried on. 

The Eel and Trinity rivers, in the northern Coast Range, 
flow for the greater part of their courses through a mountain¬ 
ous country, and there is little land along their courses that 
farmers can use. 

The Colorado river is the greatest one that touches Cali¬ 
fornia and the last one to be made use of. For many years 
no one thought seriously of attempting to turn its waters upon 
the parched desert through which it flows, notwithstanding the 
fact that one of its ancient channels across the delta ntns di¬ 
rectly through what we now know as Imperial Valley. But 


CALIFORNIA 


41 


the river was at last turned onto the desert, with surprising- 
results. The mild winters and warm sun of early spring made 
the rich delta soil return the farmers’ effort with abundance. 
Early spring vegetables, canteloupes, lettuce and grapes are 
now shipped in immense quantities to all parts of the country. 
The date palm appears to be as much at home here as in the 
oases of the Sahara Desert, or the frightful heat of the Per¬ 
sian Gulf. 

The present canals which supply Imperial Valley cannot 
reach all the desert. It is now planned to build the greatest 
dam in the world, far up in the canyon of the Colorado river. 
From this dam the water will be taken and carried in an aque¬ 
duct at so high a level that it will be possible to irrigate a vast 
area in Southern California which is still an uninhabited waste. 
This will about double the present area of possible farm land 
in the southern part of the State, and enable it to support sev¬ 
eral times its present population. 


42 


CALIFORNIA 


CHAPTER 4. 

HOW CAN WE ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT THE IN¬ 
DUSTRIES OF CALIFORNIA HAVE CHANGED AS THE 
STATE HAS GROWN IN POPULATION AND IMPOR¬ 
TANCE? 

During the Spanish occupation, the chief products that 
were shipped away were hides and tallow. Little other use 
was made of the cattle that roamed the great ranches. 

The discovery of gold made mining the chief industry for 
many years. With the increase in population, more land be¬ 
came cultivated and wheat was perhaps the most important 
crop. As mining declined, stockraising and general farming 
took its place. Then the advantages of irrigation began to be 
better understood. A mild climate, rich soil and an abundance 
of water led to the planting of orchards, but these did not be¬ 
come of great importance commercially until the State was 
connected with the eastern market by means of railroads, and 
the refrigerator car had been invented. 

We can see at every step how the industries of California 
have been affected by the possibility of reaching a market. 
There was no use of growing more than could be consumed at 
home, unless it could be disposed of. 

As fruit growing increased, cattle raising and wheat 
growing decreased to such an extent that now California does 
not raise all the beef, pork and wheat that it uses. The farmers 
of the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley neglected 
to fertilize their fields, so that they no longer obtained good 
yields of wheat, while the fencing of the land and its use for 
other purposes limited the range of cattle. 

There was once little dairying in California, for the mar¬ 
ket was small. The growth of cities and towns opened a mar¬ 
ket, and improved methods made the industry more profitable. 
Dairying was then mostly confined to the cool coast slopes and 
the mountain valleys, where the industry could be carried on 
without ice, and the grass afforded forage. Now dairying 
flourishes in the interior valleys; this has been made possible 


CALIFORNIA 


43 


because of the cheap alfalfa raised by means of irrigation, and 
the use of ice and refrigerators. 

With the exception of that from the Southern States, all 
of our rice once came from Asia, chiefly Japan and China. 
Finally some one tried growing it on the rich bottom land of 
the Sacramento Valley, where there was an abundance of wa¬ 
ter; it was a great success and we now raise rice for export. 

Cotton needs a long season and hot sun, but less water 
than rice. Someone tried growing it in the Imperial Valley 
and it was a success, and thousands of acres have since been 
planted there. It will also probably be a success in the San 
Joaquin Valley. 



The farthest north cotton field in the United States, 

Near Chico, California, 





44 


CALIFORNIA 


The climate of Imperial and Coachella Valleys is much 
like that of the oases in the Sahara Desert, where the date 
palm thrives. Date palms were planted in these valleys, and 
are now proving the suitability of the climate and soil by bear¬ 
ing valuable crops of fruit. California may some day become 
as noted for its dates as it is now for its oranges. 

The orchards of semi-tropical fruits, such as the orange, 
lemon, fig and olive, and vineyards of the raisin grape, now 
distinguish California but little more than its orchards of tem¬ 
perate fruits, such as the apple, prune, pear and peach. All 
these fruits are grown together under the same conditions in 
Southern California and the Great Valley, but the temperate 
fruits particularly characterize the valleys of the Coast Ranges, 
in most of which it is too cool for the orange. 

The latest industry to become prominent in California is 
the oil industry, the State being now one of the greatest pro¬ 
ducing centers in the world. This industry, however, like 
placer mining, will not be a permanent one, for the time will 
come, in a few years, when most of the available petroleum will 
have been taken from the earth. 


CALIFORNIA 


45 


CHAPTER 5. 

WAS IT THE DISTANCE TO CALIFORNIA THAT MADE IT 
SO DIFFICULT TO REACH IN THE EARLY DAYS, OR 
WAS IT RATHER THE NATURE OF THE COUNTRY 
THAT HAD TO BE CROSSED BEFORE THE FERTILE 
COAST VALLEYS COULD BE REACHED? 

No important valley in the United States is so isolated by 
Nature as the Great Valley and coastal valleys of California. 
It seems as though Nature had made California difficult to 
reach in order that people should prize it more when they had 
gotten here. 

In exploring a new country, rivers and lakes usually offer 
a great help. Think of the assistance to the early explorers of 
the continent, which was offered by the Great Lakes, the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers. 

Of course, one could take the ocean route to California, 
but even that was, for people living in the Eastern States, a 
long and dangerous undertaking before the use of steamers 
and before the building of the Panama canal. 

Not one of the three trails across the continent to Cali¬ 
fornia that was opened by the pioneers made use of lakes or 
rivers. If you will look at the map, you will discover the Mis¬ 
souri river is the only navigable stream flowing from the west 
into the Mississippi. It rises far in the northwest and could 
not be made use of by the emigrant bound for California. 

The prairie region east of the Mississippi river had be¬ 
come fairly well settled when the gold rush to California began, 
but west of the river the country was a wilderness. The jour¬ 
ney a.cross the Great Plains, which rise gradually from the 
Mississippi river to the foot of the Rocky mountains, was not 
difficult or dangerous except for the Indians. 

There is only one gap or low pass in the Rocky mountains 
which form the backbone of North America from Mexico to 
Alaska. This is known as South Pass and happened to lie on 
the direct route to California. After crossing the mountains, 
the pioneers came to a desert. This is known now as the 
Great Basin, because it is so rimmed about by higher land that 


46 


CALIFORNIA 


no rain that falls upon it ever runs away to the ocean. The 
water which collects in the desert basin is filled with salt and 
alkali. The pioneers came first to Great Salt Lake and then, 
before finishing the desert, passed near Pyramid, Humboldt 
and Winnemucca lakes, in what is now Nevada. The lack of 
forage and water, together with the hot summer sun made this 
desert basin a terrible land to cross. When they had success¬ 
fully passed through the desert, the pioneers came to the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains, which stretched across their path, 
as a great rocky wall, for 400 miles. They could not go round 
these mountains and so succeeded with great difficulty in cross¬ 
ing them by way of several passes, the most commonly used 
being Donner Pass. 

Descending the western slope of the mountains, the trav¬ 
elers found themselves in the Great Valley, and ended their 
journey at Sacramento. 

The pioneers who came to California by way of Oregon 
did not have to cross the Great Basin, but turned toward the 
north from South Pass and followed down the Snake and Co¬ 
lumbia rivers. Frequent rapids interfered with navigation 
upon these rivers. After reaching the lower Columbia river, 
there still remained many difficulties before getting to the Sac¬ 
ramento Valley. The Siskiyou and Klamath mountains had to 



Indian wigwams consist of a framework of poles upon which are laid 
skins of animals, or sometimes the bark of trees 




CALIFORNIA 


47 


be crossed on the direct route to the valley. Another route 
entered California from Oregon across the volcanic plateau 
in the northeastern corner of the State, but this was equally 
difficult. 

The old Santa Fe trail, by way of New Mexico and Ari¬ 
zona, crossed the Colorado river at Fort Yuma, and then 
branched. One way led across the Colorado desert to San 
Diego; the other northwest through the Colorado and Coa¬ 
chella deserts by way of the San Gorgonio Pass to San Ber¬ 
nardino and Los Angeles. The deserts of this route, however, 
were more to be dreaded than those farther north and, in addi¬ 
tion, there were the Apaches and other Indians lying in wait. 
The San Gorgonio is the only open and easy pass from the 
East to the coastal slopes of California. This pass is only 
2,000 feet high and lies between the two mighty sentinels, San 
Gorgonio and San Jacinto peaks. No other pass to the coast 
is less than 4,000 feet, and the one most used, Donner Pass, is 
over 6,000 feet in height. 

HOW IS IT THAT THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERT ARE 
NOT NOW SUCH DREADED BARRIERS AS THEY WERE 
ONCE? 

The pioneers had to make their own roads over the moun¬ 
tains. They had to be on the watch for water while crossing 
the deserts. We can now cross the 2,000 miles between Cali¬ 
fornia and the Mississippi river in comfort, either upon the 
cars or in automobile. Graded roads have been built over the 
mountains, and signs have been posted along the desert roads 
telling where the springs are. The Lincoln Highway, built 
along the line of the old emigrant trail through South Pass, 
by Great Salt Lake, across the Carson desert and over Donner 
Pass, presents a very different appearance now, with its swiftly 
traveling automobiles, than it did sixty years ago, with its 
slow-moving ox teams. 

HOW IS IT THAT THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS BE¬ 
TWEEN CALIFORNIA AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
ARE NOT NOW THE LONESOME WASTES, PEOPLED 
ONLY BY INDIANS, THAT THEY WERE ONCE? 

The discovery of gold in California led to the search for 
the precious metals in the Rocky Mountains. Gold, silver, lead, 
zinc and copper were found not only in the Rocky Mountains 
but in the desert ranges of Nevada and eastern California. In 


48 


CALIFORNIA 


time quite large settlements grew up about many of the mines. 
In the mountains, wood and water were plentiful; in the desert 
ranges water often had to he piped many miles. 

Upon the eastern and western sides of the Great Basin 
are lofty mountains. These mountains send down living 
streams, which once sank uselessly into the desert sands, or 
formed alkaline lakes. The waters of all these streams are 
now being utilized by farmers and stockmen, who have taken 
up ranches along their courses. Thus the water of the Wa¬ 
satch range in eastern Utah, with man’s help, have made a 
garden of the desert which lay between it and the Great Salt 
Lake. Upon the western side of Nevada, the Truckee river, 
which once emptied in Pyramid lake, is now held back by a 
great dam, which forms a huge reservoir. From this reser¬ 
voir, the water is conducted in ditches over many thousands 
of acres of the once dreaded Carson desert. 

WHY IS IT THAT IN MOST CASES THE RAILROADS HAVE 
FOLLOWED THE ROUTES OF THE PIONEERS’ WAGON 
ROADS INTO CALIFORNIA? 

The pioneer explorer hunted out the passes in the moun¬ 
tains, where they could get their wagons through with the 
least trouble. We would naturally expect the railroad engineer 
would do the same. 

The most direct road, and that most used from the East 
to Sacramento, was by way of Great Salt Lake, Carson Sink 
and Donner Pass. This was known as the Salt Lake route, 
but now it is called the Lincoln Highway. The height of Don¬ 
ner Pass, 6,000 feet, is a great disadvantage, for the winter 
snows are deep and block the road for about six months every 
year. The Central Pacific, the first railroad built to California 
from the East, followed the Salt Lake trail through Donner 
Pass, and down to Sacramento. In order to keep the road open 
through the winter, many miles of snow sheds were built. 

The next road to be built across the mountains to the 
coastal valleys, was the Southern Pacific. This road entered 
the southeastern corner of the State at Fort Yuma. It escaped 
the mountains, which the northern railroads had to cross, but 
it ran through long stretches of desert in Texas, New Mexico, 
Arizona and California. This route is across the Salton Sink, 
and when the Colorado river flooded the sink and made Salton 
Lake, the railroad had to be moved to higher ground. The San 


CALIFORNIA 


49 


Gorgonio Pass, through which the Southern Pacific runs, is 
so low (2,000), and has such a gentle approach upon each side 
that it gives this line an advantage over all the others that 
compete for Southern California trade. 

The third railroad came into California from Oregon. 
This road was difficult to build, for it passed through a very 
mountainous country. It crosses the Siskiyou mountains on 
the Oregon boundary; then winding through Shasta Valley 
and close under Mt. Shasta, it strikes the head of the Sacra¬ 
mento river and follows its wild and picturesque canyon down 
to The Sacramento Valley. This canyon is so difficult for a 
wagon road that the first one connecting Oregon and Cali¬ 
fornia turned toward the west from Shasta Valley and climbed 
over the Scott’s and Trinity mountains. 

The fourth railroad into California was the Santa Fe 
which after crossing the plateau of northern New Mexico and 
Arizona, entered the State at the Needles, on the Colorado 
river. It then traversed the broad Mohave Valley and en¬ 
tered Southern California through the Cajon Pass, which has 
an elevation of 4000 feet. 

Later, the Salt Lake Railroad made use of the same pass 
to reach Southern California. This road follows in a general 
way the old Mormon trail to California across southern Utah 
and Nevada. 

The Western Pacific Railroad entered Northern Cali¬ 
fornia through Beckwith Pass. This is a low point in the 
Sierras, with an elevation of only 4,000 feet. But after pass¬ 
ing through this gap, the only practical route to the Sacra¬ 
mento Valley was found to be through the canyon of the 
Feather river. This route is picturesque and very difficult to 
build a railroad through. Beckwith Pass was little used by 
the emigrants to California, because of the rugged mountains 
and canyons which lay between it and Sacramento Valley. 

There are unused mountain passes through which still 
other railroads can reach the coast. It is probable that the 
Volcanic Plateau, in the northern part of California, will some¬ 
time be crossed by a railroad from Oregon to the Sacramento 
Valley. The broad valleys upon the plateau are capable of sup¬ 
porting a great many people, but are thinly settled because of 
the remoteness from markets and the difficulty of getting there. 

South of Lake Tahoe is another gap called Carson Pass, 


50 


CALIFORNIA 


the wagon road through which leads down to Placerville. This 
would not be a difficult route for a railroad. 

Near the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is 
Walker Pass, having an elevation of 4,000 feet. The approach 
to this Pass is easy, but in descending the western slope of 
the mountains the canyon of the Kern river offers as great dif¬ 
ficulties as the canyon of the Feather river did to the Western 
Pacific. 

A railroad has been built from Imperial across the Inco- 
pah range and close to the line of Lower California. This 
gives San Diego a direct connection eastward. Although the 
railroad attains an elevation of only 4,000 feet, the region was 
found difficult to build through. 

WHY IS IT THAT IN SPITE OF ITS ABUNDANCE OF 
RAIN THE NORTHERN COAST REGION AND KLAMATH 
MOUNTAINS ARE VERY THINLY SETTLED? 

We have learned how much railroads and good roads 
mean to the industries of California. Let us find out why the 
northwestern corner has no railroads. We learn from the map 
that the whole of this region appears to be a mass of moun¬ 
tains, with only two or three valleys of any size. W r e conclude 
that it is very rough, and as the rainfall is heavy that it must 
be forested. The roughness of the surface forbids the idea of 
farming, but suggests cattle and sheep raising. The streams 
in the Klamath mountains, especially the Klamath and Trinity 
rivers, and their tributaries, like those of the Sierras, were 
found to be rich in placer gold, but most of the gold was taken 
out years ago. 

The map shows that the region is separated on the land 
side, by mountains, from the rest of the State, but fortunately 
can be reached by way of the ocean. It appears that lumbering 
must be the chief industry at present, and that Humboldt bay 
is the only outlet, excepting Crescent City. 

As the streams are not navigable, lumbering must at pres¬ 
ent be confined to the part near the coast. 

So rough are the Klamath mountains that no wagon road 
has been built across them from the coast to the railroad in* 
Shasta and Sacramento Valleys. There is now a wagon road 
across the Coast Ranges, which joins the Klamath mountains 
on the south. This road starts at Eureka and ends at Red 
Bluff. Until recently, if one wished to make the journey be- 


CALIFORNIA 


51 


tween these two places by road, he would have had to go 
around by San Francisco bay, or way north into Oregon. A 
railroad now connects San Francisco bay with Eureka, and it 
is likely it will some day be extended north along the coast into 
Oregon. 

HOW HAVE MEN BROKEN DOWN THE BARRIER WHICH 
NATURE PLACED BETWEEN NORTHERN AND SOUTH¬ 
ERN CALIFORNIA AS THOUGH SHE INTENDED THE 
TWO REGIONS TO BE SEPARATE STATES? 

To the south of the central part of California, an arm of 
the Great Basin, which we call the Mohave Desert, extends 
westward until it almost cuts the State into two parts, a group 
of rugged mountains being the only barrier between it and 
the coast. Before there were roads, a journey by land from 
Los Angeles to San Francisco was a very difficult one. 

By the interior route, one had to go over two mountain 
ranges and either across the Mohave Desert along the route 
of the Southern Pacific Railroad, or skirt its western end. We 
have all heard of the difficulty of building the railroad over the 
Tehachapi Pass, between Mohave and Bakersfield. The Tejon 
Pass through which the State Highway goes, is as high as 
Tehachapi’s, but not so difficult. 

The coast route takes one through long valleys and across 
several mountain ranges. Between Santa Barbara and Ven¬ 
tura, the rugged mountains come down so close to the ocean 
that the road descends to the beach, and years ago was not 
passable at high tide. 

Railroads by both the coast and interior routes now con¬ 
nect Northern and Southern California. Each route has its 
advantages, but the coast route is pleasanter in summer and 
has beautiful views of the ocean. One of the most picturesque 
automobile roads in California now connects Los Angeles with 
Bakersfield. It is known as the Ridge route and offers won¬ 
derful views. 

WHY IS IT THAT PEOPLE HAVE NOT SETTLED ALL 
PARTS OF CALIFORNIA ALIKE, SOME PORTIONS BE¬ 
ING ALMOST UNINHABITED, WHILE IN OTHERS THE 
POPULATION IS VERY DENSE? 

If the surface of California was as uniform and the 
climate was as much alike over great areas, as they are on 
the prairies of the Mississippi Valley, people would be quite 
evenly distributed over the State. We have already learned 


52 


CALIFORNIA 


how broken the surface is, and how greatly the climate varies 
within a distance of a few miles, and we know that these things 
influence people in their choice of homes. 

There is little except mining to induce people to live in the 
high mountains or on the deserts. 

The stockman has retreated into the remote and rough 
districts, because the fertile valley land is too valuable to use 
as pasture for cattle. Each stock ranch requires thousands of 
acres, so that wherever this industry is carried on, the popu¬ 
lation is very scattered. 

The valley lands, where there is either sufficient rain or 
water for irrigation, becomes thickly settled, because the soil 
is so productive. The valley lands are also likely to be tra¬ 
versed by navigable rivers, or by roads and railroads which 
make it an easy matter to get produce to market. 

The coast attracts people, because before the building of 
roads it was easier to travel on the sea than on the land. That 
people do not settle evenly along a coast is shown by the coast 
of Monterey county, where for a distance of seventy-five miles 
the shore is so rocky, and the Santa Lucia range rises so 
steeply, that only a few families find room there. People 
gather where there are bays to afford protection for those 
engaged in fishing, protection for the trading vessels, and an 
opportunity to reach the interior valley, perhaps, by rivers that 
flow into the bays. 


CALIFORNIA 


53 


CHAPTER 6. 

JUDGING FROM THE CHARACTER OF THE COAST AND 
THE NATURE OF THE SURFACE OF CALIFORNIA, 
WHERE OUGHT THE CENTERS OF TRADE AND IN¬ 
DUSTRY GROW UP? 

A. If we knew nothing about the region we are study¬ 
ing except what we could learn from a physical map, would 
we not say that the centers of trade and industry ought to 
be upon San Francisco bay? The following are the reasons 
for this conclusion: 

1. Using a physical map, draw a line about the bound¬ 
aries of the basin of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers 
and include also the basin of all the other streams which en¬ 
ter San Francisco bay and flow into the ocean through the 
Golden Gate. This line will be found to take in about half 
of the State. The people of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Val¬ 
ley, together with those of the surrounding mountain slopes, 
and of the Coast Range valleys that open to San Francisco 
bay, would naturally send their produce to the bay regions 
and receive from it the things they need. 

2. The Great Valley is the largest, richest and best wa¬ 
tered valley in Western America. It is capable of supporting 
many, if not more people than all the rest of the State. Some 
day it will have a population of many millions. 

3. San Francisco bay is the largest and penetrates more 
deeply into the land than any other bay upon the California 
coast. Deep water ships can pass up the bay tin ough the 
Coast Ranges, and load or unload their cargoes upon the very 
border of the Great Valley. 

4. San Francisco bay lies at the mouth of other fertile 
valleys besides the Great Valley. These are Napa valley, 
Santa Rosa-Russian river valley, Santa Clara valley, San Ra¬ 
mon and Livermore valleys. There is room upon the shores 
of the bay for all sorts of manufacturing plants which use our 
own products as well as the products of foreign lands. 

5. One of the main lines of railroad communication with 
the Eastern States begins at Sacramento, where navigation 


54 


CALIFORNIA 


for boats of any size upon the Sacramento river ceases. For¬ 
eign goods can be trans-shipped from boats upon the bay and 
go direct to their eastern destination. The only disadvantage 
of the route east is the climb over the summit of the Sierra 
Nevada mountains, but it is proposed to remedy this by bor¬ 
ing a tunnel through the range below the snow line. 

B. The physical map indicates that there should be an¬ 
other center of trade and industry in Southern California, 
but it does not tell us clearly where it ought to be. There is 
no bay here like that of San Francisco. Let us examine San 
Diego bay, which is next to that of San Francisco, in its nat¬ 
ural advantages. Although the waters are deep enough for 
the largest boats, this bay has the disadvantage of being at 
the extreme southern end of the State and of having back 
of it a rugged mountain range, instead of an opening into 
the interior. 

Santa Monica bay appears to be too open and exposed to 
storms to become an important port. San Pedro bay is also 
open, and its inner harbor is naturally small and shallow. 

But what of the Colorado river and the Gulf of Lower 
California? Why do not these waterways offer a fine outlet 
for the trade of Southern California, and especially for that 
of the Imperial valley, which is now one of the most prized 
sections ? 

To understand why none of the produce of Southern Cal¬ 
ifornia is exported by way of the Gulf, we must know some¬ 
thing about it and the Colorado river. The river is not nav¬ 
igable for any but the smallest flat bottomed boats, for its 
shallow channel is marked by ever changing sand bars. 

The head of the Gulf of California lies in Mexican terri¬ 
tory, but this would not be as much of an objection as the fact 
that the shoi es ai e low and marshy and the water is verv 
shallow. Idle tide sweeps in and out for a long distance. 

# The region about the head of the Gulf is still an unin¬ 
habited waste, traversed only by an occasional Indian. It has 
recently been proposed, however, to build a railroad southward 
across the Colorado delta to the Gulf and establish a shipping- 
port there. It is believed that part of the Imperial valley 
extending south from California to the Gulf will become the 
largest cotton fields in the world. Cotton could be cheaply 
exported by water. Such products as now distinguish Im¬ 
perial valley, cantaloupes, early fruits and vegetables, would 


CALIFORNIA 


55 


find no market down in the west coast region of Mexico. Why? 

W e shall have to look inland to find the metropolis and 
trade center of Southern California, for two reasons: The 
first is that there is no good natural harbor centrally situated, 
with easy communication into the interior. The second is, that 
in a land of light rainfall water is of more importance than 
good harbors. 

. The streams of Southern California have the curious 
habit of being smaller, in the summer, at their mouths than 
they are back in the mountains where they rise. This is be¬ 
cause most of them, after leaving the mountain, flow for miles 
over sandy beds before reaching the ocean. A part of the 
water sinks in the sand and flows out of sight and a part of 
it is evaporated by the hot sun. 

Because there were no flowing streams near the coast, Los 
Angeles, now the largest city upon the Pacific Coast, was 
founded sixteen miles from the ocean, at a place where a 
stream of living water comes out of the hills on to a broad 
and fertile plain. 

As it happened, the Presidio of Los Angeles proved to 
have a most remarkably favorable situation for trade, being 
at the meeting point of trails, which later became roads, and 
finally railroads. This was not an accidental meeting point, 
but was determined by the position of the surrounding moun¬ 
tains and valleys. 

Los Angeles has spread towards the ocean and, feeling 
the need of a harbor, has taken in the little port of San Pedro, 
and by deepening and enlargening the inner harbor, and build¬ 
ing a breakwater across the outer harbor, has become a sea¬ 
port of very great importance. 

HOW IS IT THAT MONTEREY AND HUMBOLDT BAYS, 
THOUGH THE OUTLETS FOR FLOURISHING INDUS¬ 
TRIES, CAN NEVER COMPETE WITH SAN FRANCISCO 
BAY AND HARBOR OF LOS ANGELES? 

Monterey is an open bay exposed to northwest storms,— 
moreover, there is no direct opening from this bay across the 
Coast Ranges to the Great Valley. The only easy route to 
the interior is by way of San Francisco bay, though Pacheco 
Pass may some time be the outlet for a railroad from the San 
Joaquin Valley. Carmelo bay, to the south of Monterey, is 
the most picturesque and attractive outing region on the Coast 
of California. 



56 


CALIFORNIA 


Humboldt bay has behind it fifty miles of rugged moun¬ 
tains, separating it from the Sacramento valley. Its traffic 
will remain purely local unless the railroad, which now reaches 
it, should be extended northward into Oregon. Large boats 
cannot enter the bay, and the bar is sometimes dangerous 
in storms. 

WHERE DOES GEOGRAPHY TEACH US TO LOOK FOR THE 
TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL CENTER OF THE GREAT 
VALLEY? 

We can answer this question by finding the meeting point 
of the highways that traverse the valley. Where does the 
physical map tell us that this center ought to be? The over¬ 
land trail, by which most of the early emigrants entered Cali¬ 
fornia, goes over the Sierras through Donner Pass, and down 
the western slope to the Sacramento river at the point where 
the American river joins it. Here the road split up; some 
of the immigrants went to the Northern Mines in the foot¬ 
hills of the Sacramento valley, and some went south into the 
San Joaquin valley and the Southern Mines. Others went 
down the Sacramento river to San Francisco. 

Those who came by water to California landed at San 
Francisco. To reach the mines, they went up the Sacramento 
river, by boat, to Sutter's Fort, or the little village of Sacra¬ 
mento, which soon grew up near it. Sacramento is then at the 
meeting point of land and water travel in the heart of a great 
valley—the meeting point of roads from the East, from Ore¬ 
gon, on the north, and from Los Angeles, on the south. At 
Sacramento, passengers change cars for different places. 
There, also, loaded cars of fruit are brought from different 
fruit districts and sent on their way to the East. The rail¬ 
roads which branch from Sacramento to every part of the 
State find the city a convenient place for repair and construc¬ 
tion shops. Since the city is so centrally located, it has been 
made the State capital, which adds to its business and im¬ 
portance. 

IS THE BUSINESS OF THE GREAT VALLEY WHOLLY CEN¬ 
TERED AT SACRAMENTO OR SHOULD WE LOOK FOR 
OTHER CENTERS OF INDUSTRY? 

The physical map will help us to answer this problem. 
The map shows two great rivers, one flowing through the Sac¬ 
ramento valley and one through the San Joaquin; each re¬ 
ceives large tributaries from the Sierra Nevada mountains. 



CALIFORNIA 


57 


Most of the towns in the Sacramento valley grew up dur¬ 
ing early mining times, at points on the streams which could 
be reached by small boats, and from which freight could be 
taken on wagons or mules to the mines, or at points near im¬ 
portant mining districts. Thus Marysville sprang up on the 
banks of the \uba river, Red Bluff on the Sacramento river, 
Redding at the upper end of the valley, and Oroville on the 
Feather river. 

Stockton was the chief city in the lower San Joaquin val¬ 
ley from which the Southern Mines were supplied. The im¬ 
portance of water transportation in the early days when there 
were few roads is shown by the situation of this city. Stock- 
ton Slough is an insignificant branch of the San Joaquin river, 
but it is navigable to the point where Stockton is situated. 

As the farming and fruit industries developed in the lower 
San Joaquin valley, Stockton became the most convenient ship¬ 
ping point for the bay region and San Francisco. Flour mills 
and other manufacturing plants sprung up. Located as it is 
on the borders of the delta region, in the midst of a great 
area of exceedingly rich country, the city must become of great 
importance. 

As we study the San Joaquin valley with the object of 
picking out other favorable locations for great cities, we must 
take into account that most of this enormous valley has a very 
dry climate. Water for irrigation is of more importance than 
water for transportation in the growth of centers of trade 
and industry. 

That district which has the largest river and the largest 
area over which its water can be led in canals, must fill up 
with a great number of farmers and fruit growers and sup¬ 
port the largest city. 

The Kings river, and the delta-like area over which its 
waters spread naturally, fulfils these conditions best. Look at 
the map carefully, and you will see how, on leaving the Sier¬ 
ras, the Kings river branches as streams do upon their deltas. 
The soil is rich and it is easy to build irrigation canals. 

As a result of this advantage, we find that the city of 
Fresno has become the real metropolis of the San Joaquin 

valley. . . 0 T 

There are many other rivers entering the San Joaquin 

valley. Ought there not to be other large cities also? We 
find Bakersfield, where the Kern river enters the valley. This 


58 


CALIFORNIA 


city has become more noted because of the nearby oil fields 
than for its fruits, farm and cattle products. 

Modesto, on the Tuolumne river, is the center of a rich 
district of fruit, melon and alfalfa fields. 

The only cities in the valley which are not more or less 
dependent upon some kind of farming are Taft and Coalinga, 
which have sprung up in a semi-desert part because of the dis¬ 
covery of petroleum. 

HOW IS IT THAT OF THE TWO GREAT DELTAS, ONE IS 
SO WET THAT ITS FIELDS HAVE TO BE PROTECTED 
BY DYKES, WHILE THE OTHER IS SO DRY THAT IT 
WAS UNINHABITABLE BEFORE IRRIGATION WAS IN¬ 
TRODUCED? 

The last sinking of the land along the coast of California 
made San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays by flooding 
the lower part of the rivers, which here flowed from the Great 
Valley through the Coast Ranges to the ocean. The salt wa¬ 
ter reached almost as far as the sites of the present cities of 
Sacramento and Stockton. 

But the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers at once began 
to fill the upper end of this bay with the mud and silt which 
their spring floods brought down each year. 

Gradually marsh lands, over which tides grew, took the 
place of the salt water, until now all that is left of that part 
of the bay within the Great Valley is the little sheet of water 
called Suisun bay. 

Every spring the tide lands are flooded, and sometimes, 
even today, after men have thrown up miles of embankments, 
the Sacramento river breaks through and makes a great lake 
of the lowlands below the city of Sacramento. 

The delta lands were found to be very fertile and various 
"islands" among the branching channels -were surrounded by 
dikes of earth to keep out the spring floods. The tides were 
burned off and crops planted. Fruit trees were planted upon 
the drier of these lands; the others were devoted to potatoes, 
melons, asparagus, onions, beets, celery, etc. These products 
are easily shipped by water to San Francisco, where they find 
a ready market. 

Every year more of the marsh land is diked and made 
useful. When sufficient reservoirs have been built in the moun¬ 
tains to hold back the flood waters, it will be possible to re- 


CALIFORNIA 


59 


claim the whole delta and make it one of the most important 
garden spots of California. 

The other delta which we wish to learn about is in the far 
southeastern corner of the State, and was as difficult to cross, 
because of its desert character, as the delta of the Sacramento- 
San Joaquin was because of its marshy character. 

A few years ago everyone considered the Colorado des¬ 
ert a worthless waste. Its western part, 236 feet below the 
sea level, held a salt marsh,—the remnant of a lake which 
once filled it. 

Below Fort Yuma, the Colorado river flows through a 
vast desert plain till it reaches the Gulf of California. Long 
ago the mouth of this river was near Yuma, the Gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia extending at that time about 100 miles farther north 
than it does now, and ended near the present town of Indio. 

The Colorado river brought down each year an enormous 
amount of fine mud, which is deposited in the quiet waters of 
the Gulf. Gradually this mud has accumulated until a vast 
plain of dry land has been built entirely across the Gulf to the 
mountains on the west. 

Over this delta the river flows in different channels at 
different times—now it is in one channel flowing towards the 
Gulf, to the southward; now in another channel emptying its 



This canal carries water through the desert to irrigate fertile 

valley lands farther down. 






60 


CALIFORNIA 


waters into the salt lake, which the delta has cut off from the 
gulf. 

Year after year the delta grew in extent. Its fine black 
soil became hundreds of feet deep, but only desert bushes could 
live upon it. Among these are the mesquite, Mexican creosote 
bush, sagebrush, greasewood, etc. After a long time the salt 
bed dried up, leaving only a bed of glistening salt. 

Finally, in the year 1890, an irrigation canal was built 
connecting the Colorado river with a part of the desert on the 
California side of the Mexican boundary. Crops were planted 
and fruit trees set out. The pioneer settlers were astonished 
at the result. Now vast fields of alfalfa, herds of dairy cattle, 
vineyards and cotton fields stretch for many miles through the 
heart of a desert once the most dreaded of any in the south¬ 
western part of our country. 

The early coming of spring in this region favors the 
growth of vegetables, which can be put on the market before 
those of any other locality in California. The canteloupe crop 
has become one of the greatest in the United States and 
reaches market before the canteloupes in the San Joaquin val¬ 
ley are ripe. The earliest grapes come from the valley and 
dates are now making the northern part, known as Coschella 
valley, famous. 

The Colorado delta is larger and has a hotter sun than the 
Sacramenta delta. It resembles the rich delta of Egypt, more 
than that of any other land. 

Shortly after irrigation ditches were built, the Colorado 
river, during a flood period, broke into a canal and poured a 
mighty flood of water through the heart of the rich valley, and 
formed a new lake in the sink where lay the salt bed. The salt 
works were ruined and the railroad was obliged to move its 
tracks for some miles. Before the region was wholly flooded, 
the river was turned back, but Salton sea still remains. 


CALIFORNIA 


61 


CHAPTER 7. 

WE HAVE LEARNED HOW ATTRACTIVE CALIFORNIA IS 
AS A PLACE FOR A HOME, AND OF ITS ADVANTAGES 
ON ACCOUNT OF A GREAT VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES 
CARRIED ON HERE. WHAT IS IT THAT ATTRACTS 
THE THOUSANDS OF VISITORS WHO COME HERE 
DURING THE SUMMER AS WELL AS THE WINTER? 

1. The wonderful scenery brings people to California 
during the summer. In this State are found two species of 
the Sequoia: Sequoia gigantea and Sequoia sempervirens. 
These trees are found nowhere else in the world, although 
there is a related species in Japan. The Sequoia gigantea, the 
famous “Big Trees,” are found in scattered groves along the 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, lliese trees are the 
largest in the world and some of them are very old. The name 
sempervirens, applied to the redwood, means always alive. 
This species was so named because the trees are very hard 
to kill. When a tree is cut down, several sprouts start up from 
the stump. The redwood is found near the coast, from Monte¬ 
rey north to Oregon. 

Some of the finest groves have been given to the State and 
United States government and are held as public parks. Of 
these parks, we might mention Sempervirens, situated in the 
Santa Cruz mountains, and Muir Woods, a little north of San 
Francisco. There are other parks on the Eel river, and near 

Eureka. 

The Yosemite Valley, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, is 
the most remarkable valley of its kind in the world. Walls of 
oramte rise very steeply? some being almost vci tical and nearly 
a mile in height. Over some of these cliffs tumble mountain 

streams in beautiful waterfalls. 

Glaciers once covered the higher parts of the Sierras and 
Klamath Mountains, and slowly creeping tons of ice filled the 
canyons. When the ice melted, the hollows that it left m rocks, 
filled with water and formed lakes. There are many hundreds 
of these lakes scattered along the high Sierras. Beautiful lakes, 
dashing streams, waterfalls, jagged peaks, foiests and cleat 
bracing air make summer life in the mountains delightful. 


62 


CALIFORNIA 


There are thousands of mineral springs,—some hot, some 
cold—the waters of which are valuable either for bathing or 
drinking. 

Mt. Shasta is a wonderfully attractive extinct volcano. 
Mt. Lassen, although once thought to be extinct, has recently 
been in eruption. Near this peak are hot springs, lava flows 
and fields of volcanic ashes. 

The San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto moun¬ 
tains are very picturesque and attractive summer recreation 
grounds. The San Bernardino mountains are interesting be¬ 
cause they once held the southernmost glaciers in the United 
States. 

The beaches on the southern coast attract even more sum¬ 
mer visitors than the mountains. 

2. The mild winter climate draws people to California 
from those parts of our country where the winters are cold and 
snowy. The orange groves, with their bright colored fruit, 
flowers blooming in the open air, and sunny days, make the 
winter season a delightful time. 

The desert valleys offer a great attraction during the 
cooler months on account of the beauty of the rugged, barren 
mountains, the clear air and the strange vegetation. The years 
when spring rains fall in the desert, it becomes a veritable gar¬ 
den of brilliant flowers. 

3. The State highways are an attraction for tourists. 
One can now travel by automobile upon hard surfaced roads 
over nearly all parts of the State. Two main highways, with 
many branches, run nearly the length of the State, one through 
the coast region, the other in the Great Valley. A third high¬ 
way runs north and south, east of the Sierra Nevada moun¬ 
tains, and connects the Lincoln highway with Los Angeles. 

Besides the main highways, there are branches connect¬ 
ing with the county seat of each county. It is planned to build 
a highway along the coast, the whole length of the State. This 
route would afford one of the most wonderful rides in the 
world. Along what part of the coast would road building be 
especially difficult? 

WHY HAVE THE ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA AS A WHOLE 
REMAINED SO NEGLECTED? 

Santa Catalina is the only island that has as yet become 
noted as a summer resort. Water is scarce upon most of the 




CALIFORNIA 


63 


islands and they have been used mainly for pasturing sheep. 
The islands, except San Clemente, rise from shallow water and 
were once connected with the mainland. These shallow waters 
are remarkably fine fishing grounds, for they are the home of 
a great variety of food fish. 



Desert plants are armed against their enemies. Here is a choya 
cactus, a ball cactus and a Spanish bayonet all with 

thorns and sharp spikes. 






64 


CALIFORNIA 


CHAPTER 8. 

San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

THE REASONS FOR THE SITUATION, GROWTH AND REL¬ 
ATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE TWO GREAT CITIES OF 
CALIFORNIA, FROM THE PROBLEM POINT OF VIEW. 

PROBLEM: HOW IS IT THAT THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, 
THOUGH IT WAS FOUNDED EARLIER THAN SAN FRAN¬ 
CISCO, AND REMAINED A SMALL VILLAGE FOR MANY 
YEARS AFTER THE LATTER HAD BECOME A GREAT 
CITY, HAS FINALLY, IN SPITE OF ITS SEEMINGLY LESS 
FAVORABLE SITUATION, OVERTAKEN AND EXCEEDED 
SAN FRANCISCO IN SIZE? 

WHY DO PEOPLE GATHER IN CITIES? 

1. Long ago cities offered better protection than the open 
country. Most cities had walls around them which, before the 
invention of great guns, made those within quite safe. In many 
parts of the world people still live in villages for protection. 
They go out to work in the fields in the daytime and return to 
the villages at night. Walls no longer protect cities, and many 
of those around cities of Europe have been torn down. 

2. Wherever many highways meet, there we find the 
people gather because of the advantages for carrying on busi¬ 
ness and trade. A bay where ships can lie in safety, especially 
if it is connected with the interior by water or valleys, is a 
place where one would look for a city. Where two rivers 
meet is another good place. At cross roads, where valleys 
meet, a city is likely to grow. Water power, which makes 
possible the building of factories, often determines the place 
of a city. A rich and thickly settled fruit and farming district 
will contain a city at some convenient point. 

3. Cities attract people, because of the advantages and 
conveniences which they offer. Libraries, art galleries, mu- 
sicales, and advanced schools of every kind are found in cities. 
Street cars, gas for heating and cooking, electricity, etc., make 
city life comfortable. 


CALIFORNIA 


00 


4. Where many people are gathered, there are opportuni¬ 
ties for every kind of business and amusement. 

PROBLEM: PART I—TO FIND OUT WHY SAN FRANCISCO 
BECAME A GREAT CITY IN SO SHORT A TIME. 

SITUATION: 

San Francisco is situated upon the northern end of a long 
narrow peninsula, which lies between the ocean and San Fran¬ 
cisco bay. Thus the city has water on three sides. The penin¬ 
sula has such a commanding position that the Spaniards estab¬ 
lished a Mission and Presidio there. A little town called Yerba 
Buena grew up on the shores of a cove on the bay side of the 
peninsula. 

WHY WAS IT THAT, FOLLOWING THE DISCOVERY OF 
GOLD, THE VILLAGE OF YERBA BUENA BECAME THE 
CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO, ALMOST IN A NIGHT? 

Owing to the difficulty of crossing the continent, many 
gold seekers came by water. San Francisco bay was the lead¬ 
ing point nearest the placer mines, and by taking small boats 
up the Sacramento river, they arrived at their journey’s end 
with very little land travel. The water of the bay is deep 
enough for ocean boats to go far up the bay and through the 
Strait of Carquinez, but Yerba Buena cove was the most con¬ 
venient and safest stopping place, and so river boats were 
used from that point. The city of San Francisco naturally 
grew up back of the cove, where the hundreds of sailing boats 
loaded with gold seekers anchored. 

WHY IS IT THAT BOATS OF THE GOLD SEEKERS DID 
NOT LAND AT ANY OTHER BAYS ALONG THE COAST? 

San Diego bay was the first one they came to, and is easy 
to enter, but as the mines were far to the north, a journey of 
500 miles over deserts and mountains would have been neces¬ 
sary before reaching them. 

Before San Francisco sprang up, Monterey was the larg¬ 
est town in California. The gold seekers might have landed 
here, but there still would have been a long land journey ahead 
of them. 

Humboldt bay was then unknown. To journey from this 
bay to the mines, it would have been necessary to cross a range 
of mountains so rugged that only recently has a wagon road 
been built across it. 


66 


CALIFORNIA 


WHAT ARE THE PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES OF THE 
SITE OF SAN FRANCISCO AS COMPARED WITH OTHER 
POSSIBLE SITES FOR A METROPOLIS ON SAN FRAN¬ 
CISCO BAY? 

The cove of Yerba Buena offered a safe anchorage with 
deep water close to the shore. The land rose gently toward low 
hills, offering a convenient site for a city. At Sausalito, on the 
north shore of the bay, the water is deep, but the hills rise so 
steeply from the shore that there is scarcely room for a town— 
certainly not enough for a large city. 

At the head of the southern arm of San Francisco bay, 
the water is very shallow. Because of this, San Jose, the chief 
city of the Santa Clara valley, grew up some miles inland. 

On the east side of the bay the water is shallow, but as 
the country lying back of the shore is well suited to settlement, 
the village of Oakland sprang up there. The waters of an 
estuary were deepened, railroads came in and now the City of 
Oakland has become second in size of all the cities on San 
Francisco bay. 

At the foot of the Contra Costa hills, Berkeley sprang up 
and has now grown to be a city, though having little depend¬ 
ence upon the bay, because the shore is exposed and the water 
shallow. Berkeley owes its growth and fame chiefly to the 
fact that it is the seat of the State University, and is a city 
very prettily situated at the foot of Contra Costa hills, facing 
the Golden Gate. 

With the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad to San Fran¬ 
cisco bay, the City of Richmond sprang up. It is chiefly a 
manufacturing place. 

Far up the bay, near the Straits of Carquinez, there are 
manufacturing plants and warehouses, where products of the 
Great Valley are transferred to ocean boats. Mare Island is a 
naval station close to the Strait. 

WHY IS IT THAT THE PEOPLE AND INDUSTRIES OF THE 
SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION HAVE NOT GATHERED 
IN ONE LARGE CITY INSTEAD OF BEING DISTRI¬ 
BUTED IN A NUMBER OF CITIES? 

San Francisco can spread in only one direction, since it is 
surrounded by water on three sides. Thousands who are en¬ 
gaged in business in the city live in Oakland, Alameda, Berk¬ 
eley, Sausalito and other places. The people use the ferries and 



CALIFORNIA 67 

local cars in going back and forth between these cities and San 
Francisco. 

Railroads from the north stop at Sausalito and Tiburon, 
situated on the north side of the bay; railroads from the east 
stop at Oakland and Richmond. All these places compete with 
San Francisco and take away much of the business that would 
otherwise go there. From these facts, it is easy to understand 
why many cities, instead of only one, should grow up around 
the bay. San Francisco, however, has the advantage of for¬ 
eign trade on account of its deep water and its nearness to the 
entrance of the bay. 

IN WHAT RESPECTS IS THE POSITION OF SAN FRAN¬ 
CISCO SUPERIOR, FOR HOME AND FOREIGN TRADE, 
TO THAT OF OTHER CITIES UPON THE PACIFIC COAST 
OF NORTH AMERICA? IN WHAT RESPECT IS ITS POSI¬ 
TION INFERIOR TO THAT OF OTHER CITIES? 

1. The home trade of San Francisco must be large be¬ 
cause of the extent of the region tributary to it. The map 
shows us that all that part of the State north of the Tehachapi 
mountains might be expected to do most of its business with 
San Francisco, or the cities close to it. The Great Valley 
alone, when fully settled and cultivated, should support a city 
of several millions. No other cities on the Pacific Coast have 
such a great and rich agricultural country behind them as 
has San Francisco and her sister cities. 

Los Angeles lies in a rich valley and if we took into ac¬ 
count Imperial valley and southern Arizona, its tributary coun¬ 
try, would compare with that of the bay cities. The harbor, 
however, is largely artificial and does not begin to compare 
with San Francisco bay. 

San Francisco is reached by railroads from the north, 
east and south, and its front door, on the west, opens to all 
the world. 

Portland, Oregon, lies at the lower end of the rich Wil¬ 
lamette valley and has railroad connections from the north, 
east and south. It is also connected with the farm lands east 
of the Cascade range by the Columbia river. The disadvan¬ 
tage of Portland is, however, its location, some distance up 
the Columbia river from the ocean, and the bar at the mouth 
of the river is at times quite dangerous to cross. 

Seattle is situated on Puget Sound, a great land-locked 


68 


CALIFORNIA 


arm of the ocean. It has the advantage over San Francisco 
in that it is nearer the eastern shore of Asia than the latter 
city and also much nearer Alaska. It has had a greater freight 
trade than San Francisco. Seattle has the disadvantage of 
having back of it a forested mountain range, the Cascades. 
The nearest farming and fruit growing district of much ex¬ 
tent lies across this range in central and eastern Washington. 

Vancouver, in British Columbia, has a good harbor and 
a railroad connection with the East, but it is a thousand miles 
across the Rockies to any great farming area. 

Prince Rupert lies still farther north in British Columbia, 
and has a fine bay. Aside from its mining and lumbering in¬ 
terests, the place is largely a port of entry and shipment of 
goods from Asia, destined for eastern Canada and Europe. 

ALTHOUGH THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION HAS 
NEARLY DOUBLE THE RAINFALL OF LOS ANGELES, 
YET THE CITIES ON ITS SHORES HAVE HAD DIFFI¬ 
CULTY IN GETTING SUFFICIENT WATER.—HOW CAN 
WE ACCOUNT FOR THIS? 

There are no high mountains or large streams easily ac¬ 
cessible for the bay cities. The coast mountains here consist 
of many ranges, with many little streams flowing into the bay 
at different points. These answered the purpose as long as 
the population was small, but when it became certain that 
there would soon be a million people in the bay region, some¬ 
thing had to be done. 

San Francisco considered Eel river as a source of sup¬ 
ply, but the difficulty of getting the water to the city was great. 
The rivers of the Sierras was examined, and finally permis¬ 
sion was obtained from the Government to use the Tuolumne 
river as a source. A dam is to be built across the outlet of 
the Hetch Hetchy Valley and the flood waters of the river col¬ 
lected in a huge reservoir. The Hetch Hetchy Valley resem¬ 
bles the Yosemite, but is not so picturesque. When the dam 
is completed, San Francisco will be supplied by means of an 
aqueduct. The city will not only have all the water it needs, 
but in the descent of the water from a height of over 3,000 
feet, an immense amount of electricity will be generated and 
used for doing all kinds of work. 


CALIFORNIA 


- 69 


CHAPTER 9. 

PROBLEM: PART II—TO FIND OUT WHY LOS ANGELES 

HAS BECOME A GREAT CITY. 

SITUATION: 

Los Angeles was founded upon the Los Angeles river 
about 15 miles from the ocean, at a point where the river 
breaks through low mountains and enters upon a broad plain, 
which extends to the ocean. To the north of the low hills 
bordering the river rises the rugged San Gabriel range. 

IN WHAT RESPECT ARE THE SURROUNDINGS OF LOS 
ANGELES APPARENTLY LESS FAVORABLE FOR THE 
GROWTH OF A LARGE CITY THAN ARE THOSE OF 
SAN FRANCISCO? 

San Francisco is situated on the largest and best bay on 
the coast of California. The people living upon two-thirds of 
the area of California naturally trade with San Francisco, be¬ 
cause of the lay of the land. 

The San Francisco region receives abundant winter rains, 
the amount being nearly double that of Los Angeles. 

The original settlement of Los Angeles (Presidio) was 
founded 15 miles from the ocean. While the position of San 
Francisco was chosen because of its commanding position, the 
idea determining the position of the settlement of Los Angeles 
was a permanent water supply and land that could be irrigated. 
The Los Angeles river is not navigable; it is a small but per¬ 
manent stream which is fed during the dry season by springs 
at the lower end of San Fernando valley. The water of the 
river sinks in its sandy bed before reaching the ocean. 

The nearest protected bay is San Pedro. This was small 
and of little value naturally for shipping. The real port of 
Los Angeles in early days was San Diego bay. 

Los Angeles was not located at San Pedro harbor, be¬ 
cause there was no fresh water there for household use or 
for irrigation. The city was built where it is because the Los 
Angeles river afforded a good supply of water, as near the 
coast as it could be had, and nearness to the coast was desir- 


70 


CALIFORNIA 


able, because it was not so warm as farther inland, and the 
early settlers felt safer near the coast. The location was de¬ 
sirable also because it was on the main highway to the north 
(Camino Real), and because to the east, south and west 
stretched vast areas of fertile land which could be irrigated 
from the river. 

WHY DID LOS ANGELES REMAIN A LITTLE TOWN FOR 
MANY YEARS AFTER SAN FRANCISCO BECAME A 
GREAT CITY? 

1. San Francisco sprang up suddenly because of the dis¬ 
covery of gold. It was the gateway to - the mines for all those 
who came by water. Even if gold had not been discovered in 
California, San Francisco would have become a great city, but 
its growth would have been much slower. 

The village of Los Angeles lay far off the main route to 
the mines. A few emigrants came by way of New Mexico, 
Arizona and Southern California, but when they had reached 
Los Angeles they were still 500 miles from the mines and 
there was the Mohave desert, two ranges of mountains and 
the long dry San Joaquin valley to cross. 

Since Los Angeles was some miles from the ocean, it 
had little to do with coastal trade. As far as the early growth 
of the place was concerned, there might as well have been 
no ocean near by. 

The Padres and early settlers introduced citrus fruits 
from Spain and found that they grew as well as in their 
home land. But there was no use in growing more than was 
needed for their own use, since no market was open to them 
either across the mountains that hemmed in southern Califor¬ 
nia, or over the ocean that washed its shores. It was not until 
after the coming of the railroads, and the still later invention 
of the refrigerator cars, that fruit growing became important. 
There was another reason why the fruit industry grew slowly, 
and that was that the eastern market was more easily and 
cheaply reached by fruits sent from Spain and Italy. Oranges, 
lemons, olives and raisins were shipped to America in large 
quantities from these countries. Ocean freights were lower 
than land freights and the people living about the shores of 
the Mediterranean sea could raise fruits at less cost than could 
the orchardists of the Los Angeles region. For these reasons, 
the growth of the citrus fruit industry was slow in southern 
California. 


CALIFORNIA 


71 


The advantages of the climate in the region about Los 
Angeles were not appreciated in the early days; in fact, most 
people thought the country was a half desert and that not much 
of it was good for anything but a cattle range. It took the 
emigrants from the Eastern States a long time to become ac¬ 
customed to the long, dry and hot summer and to understand 
and appreciate the advantages of irrigation. 



iViMROj 


8o».&s.ss' 


Business center of Los Angeles. 































72 


CALIFORNIA 


TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF WHY LOS ANGELES FIN¬ 
ALLY BEGAN TO GROW RAPIDLY IN SPITE OF ITS 
APPARENTLY UNFAVORABLE POSITION, LET US CON¬ 
SIDER WHAT THINGS GUIDE A MERCHANT IN SE¬ 
LECTING A PLACE FOR A STORE. 

If you were going to start a store in a country village, 
what sort of a situation would you look for? Would not a 
store located in a large and easily accessible valley have more 
trade than one in a small, remote valley? Would not a pleas¬ 
ant and healthful climate influence people in coming to the 
valley? Finally, would not a store located where several roads 
met be likely to do a larger business than one where there 
was only one road? 

Keeping these things in mind, let us look at the position 
of the little village of Los Angeles in regard to the moun¬ 
tains and valleys that surround it. In doing this, we must 
remember that the lay of the land largely determined the 
courses of the roads and trails. 

The first highway from San Diego to Santa Barbara and 
and San Francisco lay through Los Angeles. It could not, be¬ 
cause of the mountains, take any other course. 

The road from San Diego to Bakersfield naturally goes by 
Los Angeles, up the river and across the San Fernando valley. 

The overland trail from Yuma led to Los Angeles on its 
way to San Francisco. 

If one were going from any coast point to San Gabriel 
Mission and thence on east through the Cajon Pass, he would 
go by or near Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles was, then, a crossroads town. Everyone 
who traveled to or from southern California was likely to go 
by way of Los Angeles. 

WHAT FURTHER CONDITIONS AIDED OR STARTED THE 
CROSS ROADS TOWN ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A 
GREAT CITY? 

As the country settled up, railroads were built into south¬ 
ern California, and they met at Los Angeles and made it their 
terminal for the same reason that roads and trails had met 
there. Railroads, we must remember, are built where there 
are goods and produce to be hauled. The routes, however, are 
determined by the lay of the land. The valleys and the gaps 
in the mountains guide their courses. 


CALIFORNIA 


73 


4 


I lie railroads centering* in Los Angeles made it the trade 
center for a larger and larger region, and so its business grew 
as its influence spread and the rich valleys around it settled up. 

AFTER THE RAILROADS CAME AND THE VILLAGE GREW 
INTO A CITY, DID THE CLIMATE FAVOR THE COMING 
OF PEOPLE TO MAKE THEIR HOMES? 

We have learned how the climate changes as we go from 
the coast inland. On the coast the temperature is remarkably 
uniform throughout the year. There is seldom frost in the 
winter and but few summer days that are very warm, and at 
such times the wind is from off the land. Usually the fog 
does not reach more than three or four miles inland, but at 
times the whole of Los Angeles-San Bernardino valley is filled 
with fog to a height of nearly 2000 feet. 

Taking these things into consideration, we find that Los 
Angeles is warmer and less foggy than the immediate coast, 
but not so warm as San Bernardino, Redlands or Riverside, 
these cities being three times as far from the ocean as Los 
Angeles. 

Because of its situation, Los Angeles has, then, a climate 
neither very hot nor very cold. It is healthful, and as the win¬ 
ter rains are light, permits of an outdoor life the whole year. 
The early settlers of the Los Angeles region did not realize 
what an attractive climate they had, but with the coming of 
the railroads, Eastern people who were hunting a pleasant 
climate in which to spend their winters, discovered southern 
California and began to come here in ever increasing num¬ 
bers. It was found that here in southern California we have 
much the same climate as that which tourists find so pleasant 
on the shores of the Mediterranean sea. Southern California 
is not the only place in the United States where people of the 
northern and eastern states go to spend the winter, for Florida 
also has a mild, pleasant winter climate; but California has 

a greater variety of scenery, and in other ways it is more 
attractive than Florida. 

HOW IS IT THAT OTHER CITIES SPRANG UP IN THE LOS 
ANGELES-SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY JUST AS OTHER 
CITIES SPRANG UP ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO? 

The water supply, areas of fertile soil and climate deter¬ 
mined in a great part the. situation of cities about Los Angeles. 
Pasadena, which has an attractive climate and is beautifully 


74 


CALIFORNIA 


situated on rising ground at the base of the San Gabriel moun¬ 
tain, is far famed as a winter tourist resort. 

San Bernardino was founded by Mormon emigrants who 
settled near the site of the present city, because at that place 
there were springs and meadows. 

Redlands and Riverside owe their situation to the Santa 
Ana river, the largest stream in southern California. They are 
surrounded by orange groves and are also noted winter resorts. 

Santa Ana and other cities of the Los Angeles plain are 
in the midst of a broad area of fertile lowlands. These lands 
yield a great variety of produce, of which oranges and wal¬ 
nuts are most important. 

TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE CITIES OF SAN DIEGO, 
LONG BEACH, SANTA MONICA, AND SANTA BARBARA 
TO COMPETE WITH LOS ANGELES? 

San Diego has the best natural harbor on the coast of 
California, next to that of San Francisco, but the growth of 
the city, like that of Eureka, on the coast of northern Cali¬ 
fornia, has been interfered with by a rugged, mountainous 
country lying behind it. The Incopah mountain range has 
only recently been conquered by a railroad; for many years 



Magnolia Avenue. One of the beautiful drives near Riverside 

in Southern California. 




CALIFORNIA 


75 


the only land connection with San Diego was by roads and 
railroads down the coast from Los Angeles. 

San Diego has, perhaps, the most evenly tempered climate 
in the United States, the ocean fogs being largely cut off by 
Point Loma, a long neck of land forming the harbor. The 
region about the city is very dry naturally, but reservoirs in 
the mountains now supply an abundance of water and the high 
Mesa affords very pleasant and beautiful sites for homes. 

Long Beach is the newest city of southern California. It 
first attracted attention as a popular beach resort; then the 
making of an artificial harbor and the coming of factories 
started the place growing rapidly. Last of all, it has become 
noted through the discovery, at Signal Hill, of one of the 
greatest oil fields in California. 

Santa Monica has the most sightly and picturesque situ¬ 
ation of any of the beach cities near Los Angeles. Behind it, 
on the north, are the Santa Monica mountains. The bay, 
although open, was for a time the port of Los Angeles, and a 
long wharf was built there, at which coast steamers stopped. 

Santa Barbara is almost as far up the coast from Los 
Angeles as San Diego is south of it. The harbor at Santa 
Barbara is but little protected, though somewhat sheltered by 
the Santa Barbara Islands, which lie some miles off shore. 
The city is situated near the southern end of a strip of very 
fertile coastal plain. The location was considered so attrac¬ 
tive by the Padres that they built a mission there. It has a 
mild, pleasant winter climate and is a popular stopping place 
for tourists. It will not become as important commercially 
as San Diego. Why? 

HOW DID LOS ANGELES FINALLY BECOME A SEAPORT, 
IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT IT WAS FOUNDED 
MILES INLAND? 

As Los Angeles grew, it began to feel the need of what 



Sunken gardens of Exposition Park, Los Angeles. 





76 


CALIFORNIA 


most large cities possess—that is, an opportunity to receive 
and ship goods by water. The little harbor of San Pedro had 
never been of much use, as it was too shallow for any but 
small coasting vessels—but it had possibilities. 

The city annexed the village of San Pedro and a strip of 
land extending between the two places; then enlarged and 
deepened the natural harbor. As the harbor was still inade¬ 
quate, the Government was induced to build a breakwater, 
behind which the largest boats can anchor in safety. A great 
amount of freight now goes and comes through San Pedro, 
and Los Angeles is practically a seaport. The land is so low 
back of both San Pedro and Venice that for some miles it will 
be possible to dredge canals and bring the heart of the city 
into still easier communication with the ocean. 

HOW DO THE COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES OF LOS AN¬ 
GELES COMPARE WITH THOSE OF SAN FRANCISCO? 

1. San Francisco is better situated for foreign commerce. 

2. San Francisco has water communication with the in¬ 
terior of the State. 



The photo play industry of Hollywood. Taking a moving picture. 













CALIFORNIA 77 

3. All overland freight for San Francisco has to cross 
the high Sierra Nevada mountains. 

4. Freight for Los Angeles has to cross fewer rugged 
mountains and reaches the coast by the lowest pass (San 
Gorgonio). 

HOW DO THE MANUFACTURING ADVANTAGES OF LOS 
ANGELES COMPARE WITH THOSE OF SAN FRAN¬ 
CISCO? 

1. Los Angeles has fuel oil at her door. 

2. Fuel oil reaches San Francisco through pipe lines 
and by boat. 

3. Los Angeles uses gas piped from the oil field for 
heating and lighting. 

4. San Francisco has the advantage of a greater amount 
of electric power closer at hand than that of Los Angeles. 

5. San Francisco and Los Angeles both have to go a 
great distance for their water supply. 

6. Los Angeles has a more agreeable climate, since it 
is warmer and has less fog. 

HAS THE FACT THAT LOS ANGELES IS A TERMINAL 
POINT FOR RAILROADS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH 
ITS GROWTH? 

1. Persons going to any point in Southern California 
are given a ticket reading, “by way of Los Angeles’", because 
that is the point for changing cars; this fact naturally directed 
attention to the city. 

2. The fact that all tourists and travelers had to go by 
way of Los Angeles led to the building of great numbers of 
hotels and rooming houses and an increase in importance of 
all kinds of industries. 

COMPARISON OF SAN FRANCISCO WITH LOS ANGELES. 

We may say that on the whole San Francisco has the 
better commercial and manufacturing advantages, but that 
Los Angeles has the more agreeable climate. The latter ad¬ 
vantage seems to be greater than the former, since Los An¬ 
geles has outstripped the northern city in population. 

HOW IS IT THAT PEOPLE HAVE SETTLED SO UNEVENLY 
OVER CALIFORNIA? 

We have learned that people go where there is some¬ 
thing to be done and opportunities for making comfortable 


78 


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homes. The two great centers of business and trade contain 
a large proportion of the people of California. The valleys 
immediately about these two cities are thickly settled, because 
of the profitable markets for every kind of produce. 

The well watered valleys, with railroads running through 
them, are thickly settled, but the remote districts and rough 
mountains are thinly settled, because the occupations that can 
be profitably carried on in these places afford work for but 
few people—stock raising, for example. 

The deserts support few people, chiefly because of lack 
of water, while the very high mountains support no people at 
all, because of the arctic climate. 



UNITED STATES 


79 


PART II. 

United States—The Home of the Busiest and Happiest 

People in the World. 


CHAPTER 10. 

GENERAL PROBLEM. 

To Find Out What There is About the People of the United States, 
or About the Home in Which They Live, or About Both To¬ 
gether, Which Makes Them the Happiest, Most Advanced and 
Most Influential People in the World. 


WHAT HAS THE STUDY OF CALIFORNIA TAUGHT US TO 
LOOK FOR FIRST IN ANY COUNTRY WE ARE GOING 
TO STUDY IN ORDER TO DISCOVER WHY PEOPLE DO 
ONE THING IN ONE PLACE AND ANOTHER THING IN 
ANOTHER PLACE; WHY IN ONE REGION THE LAND 
IS DOTTED WITH COMFORTABLE HOMES, AND IN 
OTHERS THE PEOPLE ARE POOR AND FAR APART? 

1. The surface of the land has a great deal to do with 
the kind of work men carry on in different places. The sea- 
coast, the valleys, the hills, the mountains and the plains each 
has its own occupation, which is more or less different from 
those of the other regions. 

2. Temperature has even more to do with men’s work 
than the surface has. If your father is a farmer or fruit¬ 
grower, he will tell you that each kind of plant or tree is ac¬ 
customed to a certain amount of heat and cold. Orange trees 
require a hot summer and cannot be grown where it freezes 
much in winter. Sweet raisins cannot be made where the sum¬ 
mers are cool and foggy. Rice can be grown only where there 
is a long hot summer and plenty of water. 





80 


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If one wishes to grow palms that will bear sweet dates, 
he must go where the air is hot and dry and where there is 
plenty of water for the roots of the trees. To grow the best 
apples one must go into the mountains where the winters are 
cold, or he must go to one of the Northern States where a 
similar climate is found. 

3. The amount of rainfall or the water at hand for irri¬ 
gation determines whether or not the rich soil of the valleys 
can be cultivated. If there is plenty of water and the climate 
is not too cold or too hot, it will likely be thickly dotted with 
the homes of the farmers. If there is little water these val¬ 
leys will either have no homes in them or people will take their 
herds and flocks there during a part of the year. 

4. The amount of rainfall determines whether or not 
Nature can clothe the surface with forests. Where there are 
forests, there will be lumbermen living. If the forests are too 
far from market, people will leave them alone. If it is very 
hot and there is a great deal of rain, the forests may become 
such a jungle that it will be difficult to do anything with them. 

5. Though the climate may be suitable, the farmer will 
not grow wheat if he cannot get it to market. If the forest 
is inaccessible the lumberman will not go there. Thus we see 
that whether a place is near or far from market guides people 
in the location of their homes. 

ONE MUST KNOW THE SURFACE AND CLIMATE OF 
NORTH AMERICA AND THE EAST, OR DIFFICULTY 
WITH WHICH THE DIFFERENT PARTS CAN BE 
REACHED IN ORDER TO TELL WHETHER OR NOT 
THEY ARE INHABITED. CAN ONE OBTAIN THIS 
KNOWLEDGE BY ANY OTHER MEANS THAN BY TRAV¬ 
ELING OVER THE CONTINENT? 

From a study of the manner in which surface and climate 
affect homes in California, we can learn a great deal about 
North America. Physical maps will help us a great deal; pic¬ 
tures, together with stories of life and adventure in different 
parts, will also help. 

We have learned from California that the winds and 
storms usually come from the west, off the Pacific ocean, and 
that when the winds blow from the land that they are dry. 
In the winter these land winds are cold, because they blow off 
the cold interior. In summer the land winds are hot, because 


UNITED STATES 


81 


the interior over which they pass is hot. The ocean winds are 
always cool, because the ocean is always cool. 

The mountain ranges (Coast range and Sierra Nevada 
range) lie across the path of the ocean winds. They take 
from the winds their coolness, their fog, their clouds and their 
rain. On the eastern side of the mountains it is hot in sum¬ 
mer and there is little rain, while in winter it becomes colder 
than near the coast. 

California also teaches us that the highlands, such as 
mountains and plateaus, are much colder than lowlands; that 
the mountains receive much more rain or snow than the low¬ 
lands, and that plateaus, plains or valleys, cut off from the 
ocean by mountains, or surrounded by mountains, have a dry 
climate. Let us think of these things now with a physical 
map of North America before us. To help us gain a knowledge 
of the climate of North America, we must also compare the 
latitude of various parts of California, remembering that dis¬ 
tance from the ocean winds and height make the climate of a 
place sometimes quite different from what we would think 
from its latitude that it ought to be. 

SINCE SURFACE AND CLIMATE AND EASE WITH WHICH 
DIFFERENT PARTS CAN BE REACHED, DETERMINE 
WHERE MEN SETTLE AND WHAT THEY DO IN NORTH 
AMERICA, LET US FIND OUT SOMETHING ABOUT 
THESE THINGS. 

The map shows us that a great highland extends north 
and south across the western half of North America. Cali¬ 
fornia lies in about the middle of the western slope of this 
highland. Great as our State is, it occupies only a small part 
of this highland. 

Along the Atlantic coast there is another highland—not 
so extensive or so high. There is no break in the western 
highland, the whole length of the continent, but the Eastern 
or Appalachian highland is broken in two places. 

Between these two highlands is a great lowland extend¬ 
ing from the Arctic ocean and Hudson Bay on the north to 
the Gulf of Mexico on the south. Because of the many rivers 
of this lowland, it appears to be easy to go by boat from the 
heart of the continent to the ocean, in three different direc¬ 
tions. If we were in northern Minnesota, we could launch 
a canoe upon a stream which would finally take us to Hudson 
Bay. We could start upon the headwaters of the Mississippi 



82 


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and reach the Gulf of Mexico, or upon a stream which would 
take us to Lake Superior, and down through the Great Lakes 
and St. Lawrence river to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the 
Atlantic. Westward we could not go by water because of the 
lofty crest of the Rocky Mountains. 

One would judge from the map that the eastern half of 
the continent ought to be the most thickly settled, and that the 
western highland should contain the fewest people. Judging 
from the surface the region around Hudson Bay ought to be 
thickly settled, because it is a lowland and cut by many rivers 
and lakes. Perhaps, though, the climate will tell us a different 
story and cause us to change our minds. 

Can we form any conclusions about the climate of North 
America from what we have learned of the climate of Cali¬ 
fornia? The land lying to the north of California must have 
longer and colder winters, with more snow and ice. The lands 
south of California must have long summers. High mountains 



Canoes are almost the only means of travel through the vast forest 
region lying north and northwest of the Great Lakes. “Shooting 
a rapids” is an exciting and dangerous undertaking. 



UNITED STATES 


83 


must have a cool climate and snow on their summits, even 
though they are situated in the hot belt. Plateaus must be 
dry if there are mountains between them and the ocean, and 
be cold in winter and hot in summer. Valleys with no moun¬ 
tains to cut off the ocean winds must have an abundant rain¬ 
fall, but if mountains do cut them off from the ocean, they 
must be dry and cold in winter and hot in summer. Call to 
mind examples of these things in California and then tell us 
what ought to be the climate of the plateau of Mexico, of the 
lower Mississippi valley, of the upper Mississippi valley, of 
Nevada and of the Rocky mountains. 

The California winds and storms usually come off the 
ocean. If we should travel southeast from California along 
the coast of Mexico, we would find the winds becoming change¬ 
able, and when we reached Central America we would find 
them blowing steadily from the northeast. 

If we should take a steamer for Alaska, we would meet 
westerly or northwesterly winds all the way. The skies would 
become so cloudy and the rain so frequent that even in sum¬ 
mer we would find but few days when we could see the won¬ 
derful snowy mountains, the highest in North America. 

Now what happens when the sea winds and the storms 
they bring cross the mountains and go on their way eastward 
across the heart of the continent? From what we know of 
California, would you say that between the Sierra and Cas¬ 
cade ranges, and the Rockies, it must be very dry, and that 
east of the Rockies it must be still drier. 

But how can it be that the Ohio and Mississippi valleys 
are so rich and fertile if the winds that reach them from the 
Pacific are dry? To understand this, we should know that the 
winds that bring rain do not blow in straight lines, but revolve, 
as does the air, in a dust whirl. Where the whirling air comes 
off the ocean, it is moist and drops rain. By the time the whirl 
has gone east far enough, so that no part of the air comes off 
the ocean, there is little rain except upon the high, cold moun¬ 
tains. We are right in thinking that the great plains that lie 
east of the Rocky mountains ought to be dry. 

But as the whirl goes on east, you will see, if you draw 
an imaginary one on the map, that it will by and by reach the 
Gulf of Mexico and then the Atlantic ocean. As the whirl is 
turning in a direction opposite to that of the hands of a clock, 
it will pick up moisture from the water and carry it far inland 


84 


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so as to bring rains and make productive the whole of the 
eastern part of the continent. The Appalachian mountains are 
not high enough to cut off much of this moisture, and so an 
abundance reaches the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Before 
the winds reach as far west as the Great Plains, they become 
dry, because they have lost their moisture. 

These are the reasons why the Atlantic and Gulf coasts 
and Appalachian mountains receive such heavy rains that the 
whole region is covered with forests. The Ohio river receives 
a little less rain so that open, grassy prairies begin to take the 
place of the forests as we go westward. The Mississippi val¬ 
ley, still farther west, was wholly a prairie, with trees only 
along the streams, when people first went there. Beyond the 
prairies, in the direction of the Rocky mountains, the great 
plains become almost a desert. 

It is only the storm winds that whirl; the ordinary winds 



A forest of hardwood trees in the southern Appalachian Mountains. 
Note the clearing in the foreground with its rail fence. 






UNITED STATES 


85 


blow from a westerly direction, just as they do in California. 
This will help us to understand why it is so much colder in 
winter in the interior of the continent than it is in California. 
It will also help us to understand that if we went due east 
from Southern California to the Atlantic coast, we would find 
ourselves far north of the orange district of Florida. In north¬ 
ern Florida the winters are usually mild enough for growing 
oranges, although cold storms from the interior sometimes 
freeze them. It is not until we reach southern Florida that 
we get outside the frost belt and find bananas and pineap¬ 
ples growing. 

Since North America is 3000 miles across, from west to 
east, we must expect that in the heart of the continent the 
winters would be very cold and the summers very hot. Any 
land situated as California is, with sea winds blowing over it, 
has a mild, even climate. The farther we go from the ocean, 
as we have seen in California, the greater the difference be¬ 
tween winter and summer becomes. 

What does the map tell us as to the ease or difficulty of 
travel over North America? The broken coast line of the 
greater part makes it very easy to land on its shores. Califor¬ 
nia has fewer good harbors than any other part of the coast. 

The many great rivers flowing across lowlands, and the 
many lakes, both large and small, of the eastern half of the 
continent, must have made traveling quite easy even before 
there were good roads and railroads. If the Mississippi river 
flowed through a mountainous country, as do the Colorado 
and Columbia rivers, we could be very certain that it would 
not be of much value for navigation. 

With the exception of the lower Sacramento and portions 
of the Columbia river, the Pacific coast rivers flow entirely 
through mountains and cannot be navigable. The streams flow¬ 
ing from the Appalachian highlands ought also to be swift. 

The map shows that the high plateaus between the Rocky 
mountains and the Sierra Nevada mountains contain few riv¬ 
ers, and there appear to be several lakes without outlets. This 
bears out what we have already learned, that plateaus are dry 
and are likely to be thinly inhabited. 


86 


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CHAPTER 11. 

HOW IS IT THAT OF ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLES 
WHO HAVE MADE THEIR HOMES IN NORTH AMER¬ 
ICA, THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN 
THE LEAD AND HAVE DONE THE MOST TO MAKE 
NORTH AMERICA THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL 
THE CONTINENTS? 

The English came to North America to stay, to make their 
homes and to found a freer and better country than any in 
Europe. They were not looking for wealth from trading with 
the Indians, nor for mines of gold or precious stones. They 
wanted to establish comfortable homes in a free land and make 
their living by cultivating the soil. 

They landed upon the eastern coast, because that was the 
first land they reached. It was covered with forests and the 
soil was rocky, but the climate was much like that of their old 
home in England. They did not know of the rich prairies in 
the interior, or that from their landing places it would be dif¬ 
ficult to reach the interior, because of mountains. 

The Spanish explorers went farther south, following Co¬ 
lumbus, and took possession of lands having a warm climate 
like that of their home country. These lands included the West 
Indies and those bordering on the Caribbean sea and Gulf of 
Mexico. Their first thoughts were not of making new homes, 
but of finding gold, silver and precious stones and of acquir¬ 
ing new lands for the glory of Spain. 

The Spaniards did not like to work, and so enslaved the 
Indians, and when there were not enough Indians they brought 
negro slaves from Africa. 

The French took possession first of the St. Lawrence river 
valley. This region was forested and colder than that where 
the English settled, but it had a great advantage in that the 
river was an open highway into the very heart of the great 
continent. They did not have to climb any trackless moun¬ 
tains or cut through the forests. 

The French were not interested so much in farming and 
making homes as they were in exploring and establishing posts 


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87 


for trading with the Indians. These explorers, with their 
canoes, went up the St. Lawrence to the Great Lakes and did 
not stop until they had reached the upper end of Lake Supe¬ 
rior ; then turning back to Lake Michigan, they crossed the 
lowlands between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. From 
Lake Erie they crossed to the Ohio river. They went up the 
Mississippi to where the Falls of St. Anthony blocked their 
way; then they followed the river down to its mouth, below 
New Orleans. Trading posts were established at different 
points on these great waterways. 

The French colonists were very much more fortunate than 
the English in possessing an easy route from the Atlantic into 
the heart of the continent and it looked as though the latter 
would be kept from crossing the Allegheny highlands. It 
seemed as though the French were going to. hold all the inte¬ 
rior and northern parts of the continent, while the Spanish 
claimed all the southern and western parts, nearly as far north 
as the southern end of Alaska. 

We have to thank our hardworking and energetic grand¬ 
fathers that ours is today chiefly an English-speaking continent 
and that the United States is the leading country in it. 

The Indians had lived in North America for a long time 
before white people came, but they did not know how to make 
use of its wonderful riches. Their dwellings were but rude 
shelters and they lived by hunting, fishing and gathering wild 
nuts and berries, although some tribes raised a few vegetables. 

The Aztecs, of Mexico, had made more progress, for they 
built stone buildings and had discovered how to use gold and 
silver, and lived largely by agriculture. 

The Spaniards have held the rich lands about the Gulf of 
Mexico for 400 years, but most of the people of these lands 
are still poor and backward. 

The French settlements remained confined chiefly to the 
St. Lawrence river valley, for the English finally crossed the 
Appalachians and drove them from the great interior lowland. 

None others of the settlers of North America had the en¬ 
ergy and ambition to spread over the continent and develop 
its wonderful riches as the English have done. 

WHAT ARE THE OCCUPATIONS WHICH PEOPLE USU¬ 
ALLY ENGAGE IN FIRST WHEN THEY GO INTO A NEW 
COUNTRY TO MAKE THEIR HOMES? 


88 


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Each man split his own lumber for his home in the early days before 

there were any sawmills. 



UNITED STATES 


89 


A long time ago all the people on the earth lived by hunt¬ 
ing and fishing and ate only such nuts, fruits and vegetables 
as grew wild. Later they learned how to cultivate the soil, 
domesticate the wild animals and improve the wild fruit. 

When civilized people first explored and settled North 
America, they had to depend chiefly for their food upon hunt¬ 
ing and fishing, as their own ancestors once did, and as they 
found the Indians doing. The business of getting something 
to eat was the most important. 

In the matter of hunting, the first settlers had the advan¬ 
tage of the Indians, because they brought guns with them, 
whereas the Indians had only bows and arrows. They had to 
build houses for themselves and before long it was necessary 
for them to make their own clothes. 

One business engaged in by our forefathers was trading 
with the Indians. This business soon grew to great impor¬ 
tance, as we shall see a little later. The Indians sometimes 
brought food, such as corn, nuts or maple sugar, to exchange 
for beads and other trinkets. The trade in furs was a source 
of great profit, first to the French and later to the English. 



Our grandmothers made their own soap. They used lye made from 
wood ashes and the fat from their meat. These substances they 
cooked together in a huge kettle out-of-doors. 








90 


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CHAPTER 12. 

WHAT HAVE WE ALREADY LEARNED ABOUT NORTH 
AMERICA THAT WOULD LEAD US TO BELIEVE THAT 
IT WAS ONCE A HUNTERS’ PARADISE? 

North America has a great variety of climates, vary¬ 
ing from the very hot and wet coast lowlands in the south, 
to the hot and dry deserts in the southwest, and the cold, 
snowy northlands. 

North America has all sorts of slopes, varying from the 
great valleys and plains in the interior, to lofty plateaus, moun¬ 
tains and canyons. Therefore, we would expect to find a great 
variety of food plants growing in these different climates. 
Where there is an abundance of food plants, we always find 
a great number and variety of wild herbivorous or grass-eat¬ 
ing animals. Herbivorous animals are the food of flesh eat¬ 
ing or carnivorous animals, and so the latter animals are abun¬ 
dant where plenty of herbivorous ones are found. 

Elk, deer and antelope lived in the open, or partly open 
grass lands, such as the prairies of the Mississippi valley and 
the Great Plains. The buffalo, in immense numbers, fed upon 



General view of Huntingdon, Pa., and Juaniata Valley. 




UNITED STATES 


91 


the plains. In the hills and mountains, where the surface was 
partly grassy and partly forested, other grass eating animals 
lived. In company with them were the bear, panther, coyote, 
wolf, lynx, etc. 

The marshes, lakes and rivers were the homes of incred¬ 
ible numbers of ducks, geese and other fowl. Many smaller 
game animals and birds abounded everywhere. Towards the 
north the moose and caribou were found, and in the southern 
part lived the puma, jaguer, sloth and peccary. 

The skins of most of these animals were used by the In¬ 
dians and pioneers for various purposes, especially for cloth¬ 
ing. Many other smaller animals were captured chiefly for 
their fur. The farther north the furs were gotten the more 
valuable they were, because the colder the weather the finer 
and thicker grows the fur. 

Among these smaller animals were the beaver, mink, otter, 
muskrat, and others. These were trapped and bartered for 
their fur, and getting them out of the wilderness of the interior 
formed the basis of the first great industry in North America. 



The trapper builds the rudest sort of cabin. It is just large enough to 

offer protection from the storm. 




92 


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Most of the pioneer farmers hunted and trapped on their 
>wn account during the winter, when they could do no farm 
work. Many men made a business of yearly trips up the Mis¬ 
souri river to the Rocky mountains for the purpose of hunting 
furs and trading with the Indians. 

The early French fur trade was a very important one, 
since they could go with their canoes from the Atlantic to the 
head of Lake Superior. They had many posts along the lakes. 

When the English took possession of the northern part 
of the continent, the Hudson Bay Fur Company spread its 
posts all over the northwest to Oregon, to Hudson bay, and 
almost to Alaska. This company grew wealthy in the fur trade 
and exercised a great influence upon the Indians. 

Almost all of the fur bearing animals have now disap¬ 
peared from the thickly settled parts of the continent. Peo¬ 
ple hunt animals now more for sport than because they have 
need of their flesh as food. It is only in the northwest that 
hunting and trapping is still an important industry. 

So much hunting has been done that there is danger of 
all the wild animals being killed. Therefore strict laws have 
been passed to preserve what are left. Only for a part of each 
year is one allowed to hunt some species; this time is called 
the open hunting season. Bird sanctuaries have been estab¬ 
lished, where many birds nest, as in the marshes, about lakes, 
and along the coasts. The great game animals, such as the 
buffalo and elk, were almost all killed off, but now these, to¬ 
gether with many species of bear, deer and antelope, are cared 
for in the National parks. 

WHAT NATURAL FEATURES OF NORTH AMERICA HAVE 
MADE FISHING AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY FROM THE 
EARLIEST DAYS DOWN TO THE PRESENT? 

The best fishing grounds along our California coast are 
located where shallow waters extend far out from the shore 
and about the rocky islands and submerged reefs or “banks”. 
In such places there is the most food and best spawning 
grounds. 

The Atlantic coast is bordered by shallow water. There 
are many deep bays, while far out, especially in the vicinity 
of the Island of New Foundland, there are vast shoals or banks 
where innumerable food fish make their home. 

The settlers along the Atlantic coast early turned to fish- 


UNITED STATES 


93 


mg to help out their food supplies. Later, when they had dis¬ 
covered the “banks” they began to catch fish to sell. These 
were salted down and shipped to Europe, where there was a 
good market. 

Fishing became the chief industry of the men of many of 
the towns scattered along the New England coast. As the 
New England “Banks”, where they went for cod, and also the 
New England coast, were often very stormy, the fishermen 
became expert sailors. 

These fishermen often became sailors upon deep sea ships 
that sailed to the West Indies for molasses and sugar, to Eu¬ 
rope with the products of the colonies, or to the Arctic regions 
in search of whales. For many years the whaling industry 
made New England noted. Its ships sailed all over the world. 
To the fishing industry we can trace the success of the Amer¬ 
ican seamen in the war of the Revolution. 

But cod and halibut, smelt and mackerel fishing is not 
all of the industry connected with the life of the ocean. Lob- 



The interior of a herring packing plant. The fish are being 

prepared for market. 






94 


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ster fishing employs a great many men. The raising of oys¬ 
ters in the shallow, sandy or muddy bays south of New York 
supplies this valuable food to people all over the continent. 

The broken coast line and the many islands of the north 
Pacific coast afford a favorable home for fish of many kinds, 
of which salmon and halibut are the most valuable. So thor¬ 
oughly have the salmon traps caught these -fish as they leave 
the ocean for the mountain streams to spawn that this species 
will become extinct if protection is not offered them. Many 
of the fish upon the Atlantic coast and in the Great Lakes are 
also in danger of being entirely destroyed. 

The trout in the smaller streams of the country would be en¬ 
tirely killed off if it were not for Government hatcheries, where 
spawn is taken and from which young fish are distributed. 



Before the invention of the seed drill the farmers sowed 

their grain by hand. 



UNITED STATES 


95 


CHAPTER 13. 

AS NORTH AMERICA SETTLED UP, PEOPLE BEGAN TO 
DEPEND LESS UPON HUNTING AND FISHING FOR A 
LIVING. GAME GREW SCARCE AND THE GETTING OF 
IT WAS VERY UNCERTAIN. WHAT WAS THE ONLY 
OTHER OCCUPATION THEY COULD TAKE UP THAT 
COULD BE DEPENDED UPON TO SUPPLY THEM WITH 
FOOD ALL THE TIME? 

Cultivating the soil, raising crops and storing what is 
not needed at once, makes one certain of food the whole year. 
How often do fishermen go with little to eat when it is stormy 
so that they can not go out on the water, or the fish fail to 
come to their usual feeding grounds? How often do those 
who depend upon hunting fail of finding game? 

To be sure, we often read of famines among farmers in 
other parts of the world. This sometimes is the result of their 
not knowing how to irrigate their crops. It is partly due to 
their eating up each year’s crop and not saving anything ahead 
for a dry year. 

The farmers of North America have, however, always 
had enough to eat, because rains never completely fail. If 
they are short in one place, food is sent to that place from an¬ 
other where the crops have been good. In a good farming 
region, people always have something ahead, and they never 
have to go hungry. 

WAS IT NOT A FORTUNATE THING THAT THE ENGLISH, 
WHO WERE TO BECOME THE FUTURE FARMERS OF 
NORTH AMERICA, SETTLED IN THAT PART OF THE 
CONTINENT WHERE THE CLIMATE AND METHODS 
OF FARMING WERE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF THEIR 
OLD HOME IN EUROPE? 

The English were accustomed to a temperate climate and 
summer rains. What do you suppose would have happened if 
the Atlantic coast had had the climate of California? Coming 
from England, where it rains almost every week in the year, 
the first settlers would have starved to death in a climate like 
that of California, where the rich valleys are sometimes six 
months without rain. If the eastern coast had had our cli¬ 
mate, it is possible that there would have been no United States. 


96 


UNITED STATES 


We, here in California, believe that farming by irrigation 
is the best and surest way; but we must not forget that it 
takes years to learn the best methods of watering the land so 
as to grow crops. 

The Spaniards succeeded in carrying on farming upon 
the dry plateau of Mexico and in California, because they were 
used to a similar climate and understood irrigation. They 
shunned the hot, wet and sickly coast lowlands about the Gulf 
of Mexico, for they were no more used to such conditions than 
the English were. The West India Islands, though they had 
a hot climate, were healthful because of the nearness of the 
ocean and the sea breezes. The Spanish cleared the jungles 
and became successful growers of sugar cane, through the 
work of their slaves. 

WHY DID THE ENGLISH FARMERS UPON THE EASTERN 
COAST, WHEN THEY NEEDED MORE ROOM, GO WEST 
INSTEAD OF NORTH OR SOUTH? 

North of Lake Superior and the St. Lawrence river the 
conditions are unfavorable to farming. The great cold of the 
long winters, the dense forests, the rocky surface, turned away 
the farmers who were looking for a better land than that along 
the Atlantic coast. 

South of the Chesapeake bay the settlement of the coast 
lowlands was slow; there were fewer good harbors and the 
immediate coast was sandy and marshy. 

The Appalachian mountains grow higher and more rug¬ 
ged toward their southern end and completely shut away the 
interior for hundreds of miles. To go around to the end of 
these mountains would have required a journey from Phila¬ 
delphia or Baltimore so far toward the southwest as to have 
brought the pioneers almost to the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf 
lowlands, with their swamps and jungles, the summer heat, 
and malaria, were dreaded as much as the northern cold, and 
so for many long years, very few settlers went into the Gulf 
or lower Mississippi valley region. 

To the westward, then, lay the only opening for those 
who were in search of more and better farm lands. The vast 
and mysterious interior beyond the mountains awakened their 
curiosity, but they were long held back, not only by the moun¬ 
tains but by the savage Indians. But westward our pioneer 
forefathers finally went in spite of all obstacles. 


UNITED STATES 


97 


HOW DID THE PIONEER FARMERS FINALLY GET ACROSS 
THE MOUNTAINS, AND DID THEY FIND ANYTHING 
BEYOND TO REPAY THEM FOR THEIR EFFORTS? 

The Appalachian highlands seem low when compared with 
our California mountains, for the highest peaks rise to only a 
little over 6,000 feet. But nevertheless you would think it a 
very hard matter if you had to cross them with all your house¬ 
hold goods, and with no roads. The slopes were steep and 
rocky and everywhere covered with forests. 

The gap in the highlands known as Mohawk valley, and 
through which the Erie canal was finally built, was held for 
many years by the Iroquois or Five Nations (tribes of In¬ 
dians) so pioneers could not make use of it. 

Roads were finally built across the mountains from Phil- 
adephia and from Baltimore to the Ohio river, the woods be¬ 
came less dense and open grassy lands began to appear, and 
still farther, these were replaced by larger areas of grassy 
lands, which were called prairies. There the farmer emigrants 
stopped This was the promised land. They did not have to 
cut down and burn the trees before they could put in crops. 
They found land ready for the plow. There were no rocks 
and the soil was rich and deep. There was plenty of water 
and wood was to be had in abundance along the streams. 

This rich and productive land was found to extend over 
the Ohio and all the middle portion of the Mississippi valley. 
Toward the lower Mississippi valley, however, forests again 
replaced the prairies. Towards the north, the venturesome 
ones came to forests and lakes, but toward the west and north¬ 
west the prairies seemed to be endless. 



Harvesting wheat upon the prairies. 







98 


UNITED STATES 


Beyond the Missouri the land was found less productive, 
because of a smaller amount of rain, and this, together with 
danger from the Indians, stopped for some time the westward 
march of the farmers. 



In this fertile prairie region of the Ohio Valley our forefathers 

cut their hay by hand. 





UNITED STATES 99 


WHY SHOULD WE EXPECT THE PRAIRIE REGION TO BE 
FILLED WITH A DENSE FARMING POPULATION? 

1 he prairie region lies between the hot Gulf lowlands and 
the cold rocky northland. It is midway between the desert¬ 
like plains at the base of the Rocky mountains and the for¬ 
ested Appalachian highlands. The soil is fertile and the cli¬ 
mate is healthful, although as we should judge from its posi¬ 
tion in the heart of the continent, the changes between winter 
and summer are great. No land could be better situated as 
regards ease of travel and shipment of products. There are 
navigable rivers and lakes, while the surface is so even that 
it is easy to build canals and railroads. 

WHY WERE THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS FOR A LONG 
TIME SO LITTLE THOUGHT OF AS A FARMING RE¬ 
GION? 

The map shows us in the first place that it is largely a 
land of mountains and high plateaus. Farmers do not love 



This is one of the beautiful valleys of New Hampshire much resorted 
to in summer by city people. The peak is part 
of the White Mountains. 









100 


UNITED STATES 


mountains, and we cannot blame them. The Appalachian 
mountains are even now thinly peopled by farmers, although 
these mountains are neither so rough nor so far away from 



A glimpse of Broadway, New York. The section shown here is a 

part of the financial district. 

































UNITED STATES 


101 


the markets as those of the west. The valleys among them 
are well watered; the plateaus and valleys from which the 
western mountains rise are dry and desert-like. 

We have already learned why there is so little rainfall 
except upon the mountains. The Eastern farmers skipped 
most of the mountain region and went on to the Pacific Coast. 
In western Oregon and Washington they could grow crops 
without irrigation, but in California they did not prosper until 
they had learned the use of irrigation. 

NOW FARMERS SEND MOST OF THEIR PRODUCT TO 
MARKET BY TRAIN AND TRUCK. HOW DID THEY 
MANAGE WHEN THERE WERE NO RAILROADS AND 
BUT FEW WAGON ROADS? 

The pioneer farmers did not pay much attention to mar¬ 
kets, for they had all they could do to supply themselves. Each 
farmer raised a little of many things, because that was the 
only way to get what he wanted. 

The New England farmer usually went to market on 
horseback, until wagons and roads came. Most of the streams 
were too swift for boating. 

The Southern farmers lived mostly in the Piedmont re¬ 
gion. By this is meant the rolling foothills of the Appalach¬ 
ian mountains that lie back of the Coastal Plain. Their to¬ 
bacco and cotton they shipped by boat down the sluggish 
streams. These streams were navigable up to the border of 
the hill-land. 

The dweller along the Ohio river sometimes built rafts 
and sent what he had to trade down the river to New Orleans, 
but this market was small, because few ships then visited this 
remote place. The return home was difficult, being made part¬ 
ly or wholly overland. 

The French settlements along the Mississippi river and 
shores of the Great Lakes had only furs to send away. These 
went by canoe through Lakes Michigan and Huron, and from 
there, to save the long portage around Niagara Falls, they 
crossed to the Ottawa river and then down that to the St. 
Lawrence and Quebec. 

THE FARMERS OF THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI VAL¬ 
LEYS WERE NOT FAR FROM NAVIGABLE RIVERS 
AND LAKES, BUT DID NOT USE THEM TO ANY GREAT 
EXTENT. WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR THIS? 


102 


UNITED STATES 


In order to answer this question, we shall have to learn 
what the farmers had to sell and in what direction their mar¬ 
ket lay. They found the prairie well suited to wheat, because 
the soil was rich and there was plenty of rain. They found 
the climate suited to corn, for the summer season was long 
and the days hot. It was not long before they had these and 
other products to spare. Most of the people of the continent 
lived near the Atlantic coast, from New England southward. 
It was difficult to raise wheat and corn in fields of large size 
in the forests and among the rocks of New England, and so 
the wheat and corn of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys were 
in demand. But how were the products of this region to be 
gotten to New England? 

The Ohio and Mississippi rivers and their tributaries did 
not flow in the right direction. If the farmers put their grain 
on flat boats and floated it down to New Orleans, they would 
then be farther from markets than when they started. The 
journey was a long and dangerous one. At New Orleans the 
grain would have to be transferred to ocean boats, of which 
few were to be had. The map shows a very low water part¬ 
ing between the Mississippi valley and streams which flow 
into Hudson bay; in fact, if we went to the very head of the 
Mississippi river in a canoe, we would have to carry it only 
a mile in order to launch it upon a stream headed toward 
Hudson bay. We have, however, already discovered that it 
would have been then and is even now impossible to use this 
route from the heart of the continent to the Atlantic ocean. 

There remains but one natural waterway, that by the way 
of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence river. Why did not 
the farmers make use of the route of the French fur traders? 

In the first place the route lay much of the way through 
Canada, which was British territory. In the second place, 
until a canal was built around Niagara Falls, grain could not 
profitably be sent down the St. Lawrence river. In the third 
place, when produce had reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
it was still a long distance from the New England market. 
In the fourth place, the Gulf lay far to the north, where long 
winters interfered with navigation. 

THE FARMERS DID GET THEIR PRODUCE TO THE AT¬ 
LANTIC COAST IN SPITE OF THESE DIFFICULTIES. 

HOW WAS IT DONE? 


UNITED STATES 


103 


The map will help us to answer this question. There are 
valleys between the Ohio river and Lake Erie where the land 
is but little higher than the lake, so that if the lake were to 
rise a little, the water would run over the rim of land and 
down to the Ohio. Through two of these low places, canals 
were dug so that loaded boats could reach Lake Erie. Be¬ 
tween the lower end of the Lake and the Hudson river there 
lies a low gap in the Appalachians, of which we have already 
spoken. This is called the Mohawk valley. The people of the 
City and State of New York wanted the trade of the western 
farmers, and so they went to work and built a canal through 
the Mohawk valley. After this was done (and it took a num¬ 
ber of years) the produce of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys 
could go all the way to New York City by water. 

So anxious was Philadelphia to get the western trade 
that a canal was dug almost all the way to the Ohio river. 
The steepness and height of the Allegheny mountains finally 
made them give up and most of the canal is now abandoned. 

WHY IS IT THAT NOW MORE CORN THAN WHEAT IS 
GROWN IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, THOUGH THE 
AMOUNT OF CORN THAT PEOPLE EAT IS MUCH LESS 
THAN THAT OF WHEAT? 

The central part of the valley has been found wonder¬ 
fully well suited to the growing of corn, and more is raised 



Now the farmer uses a tractor instead of horses to haul in his hay. 









104 


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there than in all the rest of the world. The soil is rich, the 
rainfall is abundant, while the long hot summer favors the 
growth and ripening of corn. For many years farmers have 
carefully selected their seed corn, so that the corn now raised 
is very much superior to that first obtained from the Indians. 

How do the farmers dispose of this corn if they do not 
want to eat it all? They do not sell much of it to the hungry 
people of Europe, for the most of those people will not eat it 
because they do not know what it is and have never seen it 
growing. We buy some of this corn here in California for 
ourselves and our chickens, though we might, if we would, 
raise all we need. 

If we should take a trip through the corn belt we would 
soon discover what becomes of the surplus corn. Almost 
every farmer has a few pigs and corn is the cheapest and best 
food for fattening them. If we were studying hogs, we would 
find that there are more hogs in the corn belt than in all the 
rest of North America. 

In the early days of the Mississippi valley, there was far 
more wheat than corn grown, because of the good market 
for wheat. Since hogs bring a good price and the market for 
them is near by, and corn produces more than wheat to the 
acre, people in the central portion of the valley have turned 
more to corn and hog raising. 

We must not, however, think that wheat growing has 
declined in the Mississippi valley and adjacent regions. Wheat 
will grow farther north than corn, and where the season is 
shorter. Wheat will also grow well with less rainfall. Thus 
it is that we find most of the wheat now grown to the west 
of the corn-belt, in the direction of the Rocky mountains, and 
also northwestward in Canada, where the vast prairies have 
rain enough and a season long enough for wheat, rye and 
oats, but not long enough for corn. 

Wheat is not generally fed to animals except chickens, 
but it is one of the chief foods of the people of North Amer¬ 
ica and Europe, and other lands where white people have gone 
and made homes. 

California raises some wheat in the more moist parts of 
the Great Valley. The farmers have been careless and have 
not fertilized the soil sufficiently, so the yield is less per acre 
than it used to be. Washington and Oregon have great wheat 


UNITED STATES 


105 


fields and we buy some from there. We also get some wheat 
from Dakota, because Dakota wheat is especially good. 

WHY IS IT THAT ALTHOUGH THE SOUTHERN STATES 
ARE ESPECIALLY WELL SUITED TO CORN AND THE 
NEGROES ARE VERY FOND OF IT, THAT THIS RE¬ 
GION IS MORE NOTED FOR OTHER PRODUCTS? 

People raise not only those things that thrive in their 
home climate but also those things for which there is the best 
market. Corn grows all through the South. It is an impor¬ 
tant article of food for people, and many hogs are also fed 
on it, but not as many as in the central Mississippi valley. 
The South is farther from market and it costs more to 
ship the hogs. 

Long ago it was discovered that cotton thrives in a belt 
running from Carolina south and west around the Gulf of 
Mexico. Cotton is not as particular about where it grows as 
are some other plants. It is easily taken care of, and although 
picking it requires a great deal of work, it almost always 
brings a good price. This shows us that each section of the 
continent grows certain things better than it does others. 



Mississippi River steamers loading cotton at Memphis. 






106 


UNITED STATES 


Farmers are happy when they find out the most profitable 
crop for their home region. 

The cotton belt is 1,000 miles long, making the greatest 
cotton field in the world. The farms in the corn belt are not 
large, as corn requires careful cultivation. The farms in the 
wheat belt are usually large because the vast, almost level 
prairies are easily cultivated and wheat requires little care 
after plowing and planting. 

In the early days of cotton growing, the land was owned 
in large tracts and called plantations, and the work was mostly 
done by negro slaves. Now most of the plantations have been 
cut up into small tracts, more like Northern farms, where the 
negroes either work for themselves or hire out. 

SINCE THE COASTAL BELT OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC 
AND GULF STATES IS LOW, WET AND HOT, CAN WE 
NOT THINK OF SOME OTHER FOOD PLANTS THAT 
OUGHT TO THRIVE THERE? 

If you will look at the map you will discover that only 
the extreme southern end of the continent is far enough south 
to ever have the sun directly overhead. But the lands all about 
the Gulf of Mexico have a mild climate and some plants thrive 
there that are more often found in tropical lands. Can we 
think of any tropical food plants that grow and mature in 
one summer ? 

Pineapples and banana plants live from year to year, but 
will not stand frost. Banana plants are grown for decoration 
about the Southern California homes, but, if you will notice, 
they do not bear fruit and are often frozen down to the 
main stem. 

Pineapples and bananas, of course, grow in abundance 
in Southern Mexico and Central America, but the only place 
in the United States that they thrive is on the extreme south¬ 
ern end of the Florida peninsula. This is the only place in 
the United States where there is no frost. 

Oranges and similar fruits are grown in large quantities 
in Central Florida, but sometimes the cold “northers” sweep 
far south and injure the crop and trees. 

We come now to sugar cane and rice, two food plants 
that are grown almost everywhere in the tropics or hot belt 
around the world. They require long hot summers and plenty 
of water and rich soil ^o them it does not matter if it does 


UNITED STATES 


107 


freeze in the winter, for the seed is sown in the spring- and 
they are harvested before the frost comes in the fall. 

Then ought not the low wet coast lands, with a long sea¬ 
son and hot climate, be just the place for rice? The fields can 
be easily flooded because of the abundance of water. Before 
it was discovered that rice thrives in California, we used to 
get Carolina, Georgia or Texas rice in our stores, as well as 
that from the sub-tropical lands across the Pacific. 

We have all heard of New Orleans molasses. Does this 
mean the molasses from foreign lands is brought to New Or¬ 
leans, or does it mean that in the vicinity of that city there 
are fields of sugar cane? 

New Orleans is situated on the delta of the Mississippi 
river. The vast rich stretch of low and marshy land along 
the lower Mississippi river has been built up by mud brought 
down by the river, just as the Colorado river has built the 
vast rich delta of Imperial Valley. The abundant rains, the 
rich soil and long hot summers of the Mississippi delta have 
made this the chief center of sugar cane upon the mainland 
of North America. The Island of Cuba of course produces 
more cane sugar because it is almost wholly given over to this 
industry. 

CORN FORMS ONE OF THE CHIEF FOODS OF THE MEX¬ 
ICANS, WHOSE HOME IS FAR TO THE SOUTH OF US, 
WHERE WE USUALLY THINK OF THE PEOPLE AS LIV¬ 
ING UPON COCONUTS, BANANAS AND OTHER TROP¬ 
ICAL FRUITS. HOW CAN WE EXPLAIN THIS STRANGE 
FACT? 

We have heard of Mexican “tortillas/’ a thin cake of 
crushed or ground corn, which Mexicans like so much. We 
have all eaten the delicious tamales, with their highly seasoned 
chicken and corn meal wrapped in corn husks. How does it 
happen that corn, a native of the United States, where the cli¬ 
mate is temperate, thrives so well in the tropics? 

To answer this question, we will have to find out some¬ 
thing about the surface of Mexico. We have already learned 
in the study of California that climate depends partly upon 
height above the sea. We have learned that the productions 
change as we climb the Sierra Nevada mountains. The phys¬ 
ical map shows us that the greater part of Mexico is a high 
plateau and that the lowland is confined to a narrow strip 

along the coast. 


108 


UNITED STATES 


Landing on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, opposite 
Mexico city, we find ourselves, just as we would expect, in a 
dense tropical jungle, where it is very hot and there is a great 
deal of rain. Where the land has been cleared there are groves 
of bananas or fields of sugar cane. As we go inland, we be¬ 
gin to climb and soon find ourselves among groves of oranges, 
lemons, figs and other vegetation similar to that of California. 
We are now in the sub-tropical belt of Mexico. Gaining the 
still higher land of the plateau, we reach the temperate belt, 
where we are a mile or more above the sea. Here fields of corn, 
beans and potatoes and orchards of temperate fruits thrive. 
The plateau is too cold for the orange and similar fruits. 

In Mexico we find the vegetables and fruits of our own 
land growing far to the south of where we would expect them, 
because the land is high, and for this reason has a climate very 
much like ours, although it is within the tropics. 

HOW CAN WE EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT IF WE TOOK 
A SUMMER TRIP TO ALASKA WE WOULD FIND THERE 
FRESH VEGETABLES, WHILE IF WE TOOK A SIMILAR 
TRIP UP THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA WE WOULD 
NOT BE ABLE TO SECURE FRESH VEGETABLES MUCH 
FARTHER NORTH THAN NEW FOUNDLAND? 

The pioneer miners in far northern Alaska often suffered 
because they could not procure fresh vegetables. Fresh meat 
and canned goods will not keep people in good health. 

Although the summers are short in the far north and the 
sun does not climb very high in the sky, yet the days are long 
and the plants take advantage of this and grow very fast. 
There are many flowers and some wild berries that are edible. 

Seeing how quickly the wild plants bloomed and matured 
their seed in Alaska, different varieties of our garden vegeta¬ 
bles were tried there and the results were surprising. Let¬ 
tuce, turnips, beets, radishes and other hardy varieties thrived 
wonderfully. Now the dwellers in Alaska are quite well sup¬ 
plied with all the quick growing vegetables. 

Some varieties of grass have been found to thrive in the 
valleys of Alaska. A quick growing barley is grown almost 
as far north as root crops, so that now cows can be kept 
there. Life in this far northern land is not nearly so hard 
as it once was. 

If you went north from Newfoundland along the Labra¬ 
dor coast, you would soon find yourself looking onto a des- 


UNITED STATES 


109 


elate and barren land. Trees disappear and only a little 
stunted grass manages to grow in the narrow valleys between 
the rocky ridges. 

Look now at the map and you will see how much you lack 
of being as far north as where you were in Alaska when you 
had fresh vegetables and radishes for dinner. What is the 
reason of such a wonderful difference in the two northern 
coasts of America in the same latitude? 

Winds from the Pacific ocean blow over Alaska just as 
they do over California. They bring moisture and they make 
the winters milder in the far north just as they do in California. 

The winds that blow over the Labrador coast in summer 
bring little moisture. They are cold late in the spring because 
of the vast snow fields in the interior. The ocean winds of 
Alaska are mild because they blow across the Japan current 
(a current of warm weather from the south). When the winds 
of Labrador blow off the ocean, they are cold because a cold 
northern current carrying floating ice moves south along the 
coast. 


JUDGING FROM THE PHYSICAL MAP, THE LAND ABOUT 
HUDSON BAY IS LOW AND WELL WATERED AND 
OUGHT TO BE A GOOD FARMING REGION, SINCE 
THAT PART OF EUROPE ABOUT THE BALTIC SEA, IN 
THE SAME LATITUDE, IS INHABITED BY MILLIONS 



A mountaineer’s cabin. Describe what the picture shows, 










110 


UNITED STATES 


OF FARMERS. WHAT IS THE REASON THAT THE HUD¬ 
SON BAY LOWLANDS ARE INHABITED ONLY BY ES¬ 
QUIMAUX AND INDIANS? 

It is possible to grow some root crops at the extreme 
southern end of Hudson bay, but as we go northerly, upon 
either shore, the stunted forest trees soon disappear and we 
find ourselves in the Barren Lands. The Indians do not go 
farther north than the forest, but about the shores of the Arc¬ 
tic ocean we come upon Esquimaux, who depend almost en¬ 
tirely upon hunting and fishing, though in summer they go 
far enough south to get birds’ eggs and berries. 

Now, let us visit Europe and the lands about the Baltic 
sea. As we sail northwesterly towards its head, we discover 
the lands on either hand are low and forested. If we go in¬ 
land at any point about this great body of water, except at its 
extreme northern end, we shall find a densely peopled country. 
There are great cities, some containing almost a million in¬ 
habitants. There are great fields of rye and barley, and many 
pastures filled with dairy cattle, while beets, potatoes and other 
root crops are raised in abundance. 

How can it be possible that the Hudson Bay region is so 
barren and almost without people, while the Baltic region, the 
same distance from the equator, is filled with millions of farm¬ 
ers who make a good living? 

What we have already learned in our study of California 
and of Alaska will help us to understand this question also. 
The physical map of Europe shows that the Baltic sea and the 
lands about it are open to the moist west wind which brings 
frequent storms. There are no mountain ranges to cut off 
these winds before they reach the heart of Europe. 

Turning now to America, we find ranges of lofty moun¬ 
tains, some of them the highest on the continent, lying directly 
across the path of the mild west winds that blow off the north 
Pacific ocean. On the Alaska coast there are only a few days 
of sunshine during the year. About Hudson Bay the rainfall 
is light because there are high mountains between it and the 
Pacific ocean. The bay region is also much colder than it would 
be if there were an opening through the mountains, as there is 
in Europe. These are the reasons why the Hudson Bay re¬ 
gion is being avoided by the farmer and is occupied only by 
its native inhabitants and an occasional white hunter, trap¬ 
per or prospector. 


UNITED STATES 


111 


CHAPTER 14. 

WEST OF THE GRAIN BELT AND EXTENDING TO THE 
FOOT OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS IS A BROAD 
STRETCH OF COUNTRY WHICH IS MUCH LIKE THE 
PRAIRIES IN APPEARANCE, ONLY THAT IT IS DRIER 
AND HIGHER. THIS REGION IS MORE THAN THREE 
THOUSAND MILES IN LENGTH, REACHING FROM THE 
NORTH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA SOUTHWARD ACROSS 
THE UNITED STATES AND INTO MEXICO. FARMERS 
SETTLED IN PARTS OF IT AND TRIED TO GROW 
CROPS, BUT THEY FAILED AND ABANDONED THE 
COUNTRY. IN PLACES THERE IS COAL, BUT THIS 
DID NOT HELP THE FARMERS. THE LAND WAS NOT 
ONLY DRY, BUT THE HIGHER PARTS WERE TOO 
FROSTY FOR CROPS. WHAT WAS IT GOOD FOR? 

The region of plains and rolling prairies, as one travels 
over it, seems boundless, but it is not a desert. In the spring 
it is gay with flowers and supports a good growth of wild 
grasses. Upon this great pasture or range once fed millions 
of buffalo, elk and antelope. As these animals disappeared 
through the cruel waste of the hunter, cattle and sheep were 
brought in from the East. 1 hey thrived on the grasses and 
soon stock ranches were established throughout the length of 
these grass lands. 

Ranch houses and corrals of logs were built, and the cat¬ 
tle and sheep were allowed to range for miles in every direc¬ 
tion, without any fences to enclose them. Cowboys rode the 
range to keep track of the cattle. The herders took the bands 
of sheep, and with their donkeys and faithful dogs wandered 
over the range for months at a time. 

The cattle were “rounded up” but twice in the year, once 
to brand the calves, and again to pick out the steeis fat enough 
for market. Then came the long drive, often hundreds of 
miles, to the nearest railroad. 

Life on these stock ranches was a wild and often excit¬ 
ing one. Sometimes Indians or white thieves stole the cattle. 
Sometimes there were fierce blizzards in winter, when, unless 
the stock were herded in some protected place, great numbeis 


112 


UNITED STATES 


perished. Some of the ranches raised hay for winter feed¬ 
ing, but in most cases the cattle had to depend upon them¬ 
selves to find their food. 

We usually think of people who live on a ranch as hav¬ 
ing all kinds of fruit and vegetables and as being supplied with 
fresh milk and butter, but if you had visited a cattle ranch of 
the early days you would have found none of these things. 
There were no gardens and the cows were all too wild to be 
milked. The average cowboy would not think of milking a 
cow. There was, of course, fresh meat, but all other provis¬ 
ions were shipped in. 

Wherever cattlemen and sheepmen had ranches near to¬ 
gether there was pretty sure to be trouble, for cattle will not 
feed where sheep have been. Few of the stockmen or sheep¬ 
men owned land, simply grazing their stock on the govern¬ 
ment lands, and so “might made right” in the troubles between 
them. Unless there came severe droughts or unusual winter 
storms the stockmen made money and grew wealthy. 

WHO DO YOU THINK HAS THE ADVANTAGE IN RAISING 
CATTLE, THE EASTERN FARMER OR THE RANCHER 
OF THE PLAINS? 

The life on a western stock ranch is a free one, but there 
are many privations, because these ranches are usually far 
from town and the country must remain very thinly settled 



A cattle range in the Arkansas river valley. Note the few stunted 
trees even close to the river, showing that the 

region is very dry. 







UNITED STATES 


113 


in ordei to keep the range for the stock. As we have seen, 
many cattle ai e lost because they do not receive proper care 
in winter. On a great stock ranch just one thing is commonly 
raised, and that is either cattle or sheep. The ranches usu¬ 
ally consist of many thousands of acres. 

An Eastern farmer may have a hundred acres. A part of 
this is meadow, a part grain or corn land, a part garden and 
orchard, and another part a combined wood lot and pasture. 
There are neighbors near by and it is nowhere very far to a 
town or city, while the roads are usually good. The farmer 
may also have electric lights and a telephone. He takes no 
chances about his stock suffering in the winter time; the barns 
are snug and well filled with hay and corn, but he has the dis¬ 
advantage of having to keep up his stock and feed them for 
half the year, while on the great ranches the stock hunt their 
own food most of the time. The Eastern farmer works very 
hard during the seasons of planting, cultivating and harvesting 
his crop, but does not have much to do during the winter. A 



Holstein cattle give the largest quantities of good milk. In the back¬ 
ground is a field of corn which is to be used for silage for the 
cattle to eat. It will be packed away in one of the 
tall round towers which we see scattered 
through regions of dairies. 



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large part of his work is in raising enough feed for his stock 
to eat during the winter. 

The Eastern farmer has the advantage of being nearer 
market than the rancher, and of always being able to sell his 
stock in good condition. 

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE INTERESTING COWBOY 
AND THE GREAT RANCHES WHERE HE LIVES? 

Back of the great plains, plateaus and mountain valleys, 
where the cowboy makes his home, are the rocky mountains, 
streams from which descend to make the great rivers, such as 
the Missouri, Arkansas, Rio Grande, Colorado and Columbia. 

Much of the land once occupied by the great stock ranches 
is very fertile and lacks only water to make it bear abundantly. 
Finally people began to ask—Why not make dams and reser¬ 
voirs in the mountains, and by means of canals, carry water to 
the dry lands ? Many reservoirs have already been built. 
Where once one could travel all day and see only one or two 
cattle ranches, there are now thickly scattered homes and 
occasional villages. The water enables the new farmers to 
grow alfalfa, keep their stock in small fields and produce feed 
for many times the number of animals on a hundred acres than 
formerly could get a living from them. These farmers raise 
gardens, orchards, have milk and butter and are far more com¬ 
fortably situated than the early day stockman. 



V- ■' ! 


Sheep grazing in a forest. 











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115 


CHAPTER 15. 

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, BEFORE THERE WAS ANY 
LUMBER INDUSTRY, OUR ANCESTORS IN THE EAST¬ 
ERN HALF OF THE CONTINENT WERE DOING THEIR 
BEST TO CUT DOWN AND BURN THE FORESTS IN 
ORDER THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE ROOM FOR FARM¬ 
ING. WHY IS IT WE NOW FEAR THAT IF WE DO NOT 
TAKE GOOD CARE OF THE FORESTS THAT THE LUM¬ 
BER INDUSTRY AND THE INDUSTRIES WHICH DE¬ 
PEND UPON IT WILL DISAPPEAR? 

The early story of the English people upon North America 
is one of a struggle to clear away the forests which covered 
the parts in which they settled. For a long time each man 
built his own home, either of rough logs or of hewn timbers. 
For boards and shingles, logs of a straight grain were split 
and shaved down to the size wanted. 

By the time saw mills were built and run by water power, 
a large part of the forest in the older settled parts of the con¬ 
tinent had been cut down and burned. Behind the settlements 
in the more remote districts, the primeval forest still remains. 
It was difficult to haul out the logs and so the streams were 
made use of. The Eastern streams do not flow so swiftly as 
our mountain streams. The logs are cut during the winter, 
hauled on sleds to the river banks and then in the spring, when 
the ice breaks up and the waters rise, they are floated down to 
the saw mills near the coast or large city. 

The region all about the Great Lakes was once heavily 
forested, and for many years this was the center of the lum¬ 
ber industry in America. The waterways afforded by the 
Great Lakes, canals and rivers made it possible to send the 

lumber wherever it was needed. 

Now these forests are nearly gone and the lumbermen 
have gone elsewhere. The forests of the southern Appalach¬ 
ian highlands were for a long time beyond the reach of the 
lumbermen, as were those on the coastal plains of the South 

Atlantic and of the Gulf States. 

Now railroads are being built into the heart of the south¬ 
ern Appalachians and the great mountainous region about Mt. 


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Mitchell, the highest peak in the eastern part of the continent, 
is being robbed of its forests. 

The finest pine forests of the continent are those upon the 
Pacific slope, especially in the State of California and Wash¬ 
ington. Nowhere else in the world are there such wonderful 
pines, spruce and fir forests. 

FROM WHAT FAR REMOTE PARTS OF THE CONTINENT 
DID THE WOOD COME THAT HAS BEEN MADE INTO 
THE DIFFERENT ARTICLES IN YOUR HOME? 

The wood used for the most part in the building of our 
homes is pine, spruce and fir. These trees like a cold climate 
and plenty of moisture. They grow higher on our mountains 
and farther north than the hardwoods. The Canadian for¬ 
ests are composed largely of these trees. They are found in 
the higher parts of the Appalachian highlands, throughout its 
whole length. Some pines are not particular about the soil 
they have, and so we find fine forests that supply vast quan- 



Three sleds of red and white pine, Minnesota. 





























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117 


tities of resin and turpentine growing upon the sandy soil of 
the South Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain. 

The cedar shingles on the roof probably came from Ore¬ 
gon or Washington, where giant cedars are scattered through 
the forests of pine and spruce. 

Your cedar chest may have come from Southern swamps, 
where, in company with cypress and clinging vines, it helped 
form almost impenetrable jungles. 

The rosewood or mahogany, which is so costly and usu¬ 
ally used only as a veneer upon various articles of furniture, 
came from some tropical forests in Central America, where 
the jungle is so dense that axes have to be used to open a 
path to the trees. 

The walnut, which we use so much for furniture, grows 
all through the Appalachian region. Years ago, the settlers 
cut and burned great walnut trees that today would be worth 
hundreds of dollars each. 

The hickory handles of various tools come from the same 
region as the walnut, and like the latter, this wood is be¬ 
coming very high priced, because the trees have been so 
nearly cut away. 

The oak is the chief hardwood of California, and we all 
know what beautiful groves it forms in most of the valleys. 
California oak is not considered of much value except for fire¬ 
wood, so that the oak furniture, tool handles, etc., come from 
States about the borders of the Ohio valley. 

Redwood, of course, is found only in California, and the 
sugar pine used in windows and doors is also a California tree. 

WHY IS IT THAT THE FACTORIES FOR MAKING FUR¬ 
NITURE AND THE WOODEN PARTS OF IMPLEMENTS 
ARE FOUND LARGELY IN THE GREAT LAKE AND UP¬ 
PER OHIO VALLEY STATES? 

All the region about the upper Ohio river valley was once 
covered with forests in which such hardwood trees as maple, 
oak, walnut, hickory and ash abounded. In the more remote 
districts these trees are still found in large numbers. 

The region of which we are speaking has an abundance 
of coal and gas for running machinery. It is noted also for 
its manufactories of iron, which in combination with hardwood 
parts is used in many implements and tools. 

The facilities for getting the- raw wood and for shipping 


118 


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away the furniture and other articles is the best possible. 
Why? 

WHY IS IT THAT WE ARE NOW WORKING AS HARD TO 
SAVE THE FORESTS AS OUR ANCESTORS WORKED TO 
DESTROY THEM? 

We have learned many things in the last 100 years. We 
have learned how the forests hold back the waters on the 
mountains and so lessen the damage from floods. In the Ap¬ 
palachian region great loss has come to the farmers through 
the cutting of trees on the hill slopes, for this has allowed the 
rain to wash away the surface and cut deep gullies in it. The 
lower valleys about the Appalachian highlands hr/ve been flood¬ 
ed and farms greatly damaged since large ar ',as of forests 
have been cut away. 

All through the Central and Eastern State s the streams 
are lower in summer than they were and the spring floods are 
worse. California has suffered some from the same trouble, 
but we are waking up in time to save our slopes and the sur¬ 
plus water so much needed for irrigation. 

The Government has acquired large acres of land in the 
Appalachians for the purpose of preserving the remaining for¬ 
ests and reforesting the cut over slopes. It has acquired the 



Planting yellow pine stock on the Pike National Forest, Colorado. 




UNITED STATES 


119 


White mountains in New England for the same purpose. 
Many of the Eastern States are setting aside large areas of 
uncut timber for a permanent forest, and are also replanting 
many waste and desolate areas which are not suitable for 
farming, but will grow a fine forest. 

There are many great National Forests in California and 
many other Pacific Coast States, as well as in Alaska. In the 
Rocky mountains there are also other National Forests. 

These forests are managed quite differently from the Na¬ 
tional Parks. In the parks everything is left just as nature 
made it; the trees, the flowers, animals and birds are pro¬ 
tected. The National Forests are open as playgrounds as well 
as the parks, but the wealth that they contain may be used 
only under direction of foresters. The cutting-of trees is reg¬ 
ulated so as to keep up the supply by careful selection and 
guarding against fires. 

IN WHAT WAY WAS IT AN ADVANTAGE THAT OUR NEW 
ENGLAND FOREFATHERS HAD TO MAKE THEIR OWN 
CLOTHING, HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES AND FARMING 
TOOLS? 

Did it not make them skilled in the use of their hands? 
Did it not cultivate ingenuity in making the things they need- 



Sowing seed along contour lines on slopes, Pike National 

Forest, Colorado. 


























120 


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ed, as well as make themselves reliant? Most of us, if lost in 
some wilderness, would be almost helpless. We would not 
know how to start a fire, to secure food or to cook it. We 
might suffer a great deal before we learned how to make 
anything wherewith to clothe ourselves, or to build a sheltei 

from the storm. 



A mining camp in the mountains of Colorado 









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121 


Our forefathers became skilled in everything 1 which con¬ 
tributed to their comfort in a land where very little could be 
bought at a store. The few manufactured articles that could 
be obtained had to come a long distance across the ocean and 
were very high priced, while the people who needed them 
could get them only by trading skins or furs, as they had 
very little money. 



This is a copper smelter and the town that grows up around it in a 
desert valley in Arizona. A smelter is an establishment where 
a metal is obtained from its crude ore. Note the pipe 
for carrying away the poisonous fumes. 









122 


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CHAPTER 16. 

WE WOULD NATURALLY EXPECT MANUFACTURING TO 
BECOME IMPORTANT IN THOSE PLACES WHERE 
THERE WERE RAW MATERIALS CLOSE AT HAND, 
BUT NEW ENGLAND, WITH LITTLE RAW MATERIAL 
OF ANY KIND, HAS BECOME ONE OF THE GREATEST 
MANUFACTURING CENTERS IN THE WORLD. HOW 
COULD THIS UNEXPECTED THING HAVE TAKEN 
PLACE? 

In the first place our New England forefathers had be¬ 
come skilled workmen through having to make their clothes, 
shoes, clocks, tools, etc., by hand. We all know what beauti¬ 
ful hand work of all sorts is made by the people of the half 
civilized nations scattered over the world. They have no ma¬ 
chinery and have learned to make articles which we are will¬ 
ing to pay a good deal more for than for machine made ones. 

The New England region has no coal, except a little away 
up in Canada, and very little iron or other metals. However, 
it has many streams that flow swiftly down to the ocean. Be¬ 
ing of an inventive turn of mind, many of the men set up 
water wheels and built little mills, where the corn and barley 
raised in the neighborhood could be ground. Then they 
thought of turning the water power to advantage for other 
purposes. They began to devise machinery for the purpose 
of weaving cloth, and to their home-made inventions was soon 
added more elaborate machinery brought from England. 

Little by little, machinery for saving labor in other indus¬ 
tries was invented. Iron and coal were obtained from Penn¬ 
sylvania and articles too numerous to mention were manufac¬ 
tured in ever greater quantities, as a market for them was 
found. 

New England did not supply much leather for boot and 
shoe making, and so leather was obtained from other lands 
where there were many sheep and cattle. 

Cotton was found to do well in the South, and soon New 
England became the market place for a large part of the cot¬ 
ton grown there. 


UNITED STATES 123 


england have become a successful 

MANUFACTURING CENTER IF IT HAD HAD ONLY WA¬ 
TER POWER AND SKILLED WORKERS? 


If we look on the map of the North Atlantic States we 
shall see that the coast has many bays extending - far into the 
land. Most of the factories have been built upon these bays, 
or on the streams which empty into them. Their location 
makes it very easy to bring raw materials by water and to ship 
away the manufactured articles. 

Large factories require a great many people to handle the 
machinery, and so they must be built where workmen can be 
had and where these workmen can get food and other supplies 
cheaply. Just think how differently the story of the North¬ 
eastern States would have been if they had had a surface and 
streams like those of California. Our streams flow gently 
through the Great Valley and offer no water power where it 
would be easy to build factories and towns. It would have 
been very difficult, and in most places impossible to have built 
factories or mills in places like our far-away mountain can¬ 
yons, where water power is to be found. 

If the eastern coast of North America had been like the 
Pacific coast, and the Pacific coast like the Eastern, the United 
States would probably not be noted for its manufacturing in¬ 
dustries. 

These things show how our work is determined by Na¬ 
ture. When we go to a country to live, we have to do what 
Nature says we may; otherwise we cannot succeed. Our fore¬ 
fathers were, however, at a disadvantage, because they did not 
know as much as we now know about how to make use of 
Nature. Now we can carry the water power by means of 
electricity to any place we choose, where there is good trans¬ 
portation and where ihe workers can make comfortable homes. 


IN WHAT WAY DID NATURE ARRANGE MATTERS SO 
THAT THE MANUFACTURING WHICH GREW UP IN 
THE MIDDLE STATES WOULD BE OF A DIFFERENT 
SORT FROM THAT OF NEW ENGLAND? 


It is curious that we arrange our work, when we are suc¬ 
cessful, as Nature had planned that we should, and without 
ever thinking anything about it. 

The metal manufacturers of New England make chiefly 
small delicate articles which need the least amount of mate¬ 
rial and require great skill. The manufacturers of the Mid- 


124 


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die States and the Ohio valley confine themselves chiefly to 
heavy, bulky and coarse manufactures of iron. The reason 
for these great differences in the industries of the two regions 
is that New England is some distance from supplies of coal 
and iron, while the region of which the Ohio valley is the cen¬ 
ter is close to them. 

Great coal fields are worked in these States, while in ad¬ 
dition there is petroleum and natural gas. While the iron is 
mined chiefly in northern Minnesota, it is so easily and cheaply 
brought to the coal fields for smelting that we might consider 
it as really at their door. Etuge barges take on the ore at 
Duluth and bring it down through the Lake waterway to Chi¬ 
cago, Cleveland and other cities. Here, a part is smelted, while 
another part is taken by cars to Pittsburgh, which is the great¬ 
est iron manufacturing place in the world. 

Not only is iron smelting carried on in this region, but 
many different kinds of articles are made from the crude, or 
pig, iron. The manufacture of heavy machinery of every de¬ 
scription, automobile parts, agricultural machinery, iron rails, 
etc., takes immense quantities of iron. 

Copper is mined on the southern shore of Lake Superior, 
where is found the deepest mine in the world. Zinc is mined 
in Missouri, and both copper and zinc are found in the Rocky 
mountains. These metals are also used in many manufactur¬ 
ing processes. 

IN WHAT RESPECTS DO THE SHIPPING FACILITIES OF 
THE OHIO VALLEY STATES ENCOURAGE MANUFAC¬ 
TURING? 

We cannot picture any region better situated for ship¬ 
ping products than that which we are now studying. The 
Ohio and Mississippi valley waterways are being improved 
and more freight is now going to the ocean that way. This 
is due partly to the deepening of the water from the Gulf to 
New Orleans/and partly to the opening of the Panama Canal. 

The Lakes and Erie canal waterway has long been the 
most important outlet, although the improvement of the St. 
Lawrence route will take more freight that way. Chicago is 
now connected by canal and the Illinois river with the Mis¬ 
sissippi river, and canals may again open up a freight route 
between Lake Erie and the Ohio river. 

From what we have learned, it is not surprising that the 


UNITED STATES 


125 


Central States of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and those 
bordering upon the Great Lakes, are not only among the rich¬ 
est farming districts of the continent, but also have become 
as important in manufacturing and trading industries as the 
New England States. 

LEARNING WHAT WE HAVE ABOUT THE FARMING, 
MANUFACTURING AND COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES 
OF THE CENTRAL STATES, ARE WE AIDED AT ALL 
IN UNDERSTANDING WHY THE GREAT MEAT PACK¬ 
ING INDUSTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA ARE CENTER¬ 
ED IN CHICAGO, OMAHA, KANSAS CITY AND OTHER 
NEAR-BY PLACES? WHY SHOULD THERE NOT BE 
SIMILAR INDUSTRIES UPON THE ATLANTIC COAST? 

The great cities of the East, with the great number of 
smaller cities and towns about them, require every day far 
more fresh meat than can be produced upon the farms of that 
region. We must take into account also that near these cities 
there is more money in fresh butter, cream and milk than 
in beef and pork. 



The Mississippi River forms the great natural highway from north to 
south across the United States. Thousands of steamers are 
engaged in carrying freight and passengers upon 
thousands of miles of water of this river 
and its tributaries. 






126 


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The Western cities which we have mentioned are in the 
center of the corn and hog belt where far more animals are 
raised than can be consumed in a fresh condition. Besides 
this, the many railroads that run west across the great plains 
and the region of the cattle and sheep ranges can quickly and 
easily bring the animals to the Mississippi valley, where there 
is an abundance of cheap corn and hay for fattening them. 
We can readily see there are many other reasons why the pack¬ 
ing industry should grow up where it has rather than close 
to the ranches, or in the more distant Atlantic coast region. 

WHAT IS THE REASON THAT, EXCEPT FOR THE PACIFIC 
COAST, THE REGION OF THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS 
IS ALMOST WITHOUT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES 
OTHER THAN THOSE CONNECTED WITH MINING? 

There is an abundance of coal in the Rocky mountain 
region. There is also petroleum, great forests and enormous 
water power, but no manufacturing except the smelting and re¬ 
fining of gold, copper, lead and zinc ores that are mined there. 

In the first place, the whole region is, for all practical pur¬ 
poses, dependent upon railroads for its outside supplies and 
for sending away its produce. The many great rivers which 



One of the greatest silver camps in the world. 
Leadville N. F., Colorado. 




UNITED STATES 


127 


rise there are of very little value for transportation as com¬ 
pared with those of the central and eastern parts of the con¬ 
tinent. 

The Missouri is the only branch of the Mississippi river 
rising in the Rocky mountains that is navigable for any dis¬ 
tance from its mouth. Boats ascend this river to Great Falls, 
pretty well up towards the base of the mountains. Huge plants 
for treating the ores mined in the nearby mountains have been 
built there. 

The Arkansas river has such a broad sandy channel that 
it has never been of much value for navigation. The early 
trappers returning from the Rocky mountains to St. Louis 
tried to use this river to transport their load of furs, but it 
was too shallow for their loaded canoes. 

The Rio Grande is another of the rivers of the Rocky 
mountains; it flows southerly and then easterly, forming the 
boundary between the United States and Mexico for some dis¬ 
tance before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Its bed is broad 
and sandy and unfit for navigation. 

We are hearing now much about the Colorado river and 
the enormous possibilities which it offers, both for irrigating 
the deserts through which its lower course lies, and as a source 
of electric power. The seven States which its waters touch 
or flow through are drawing up a plan to divide the water 
and power among them. 

Since the river possesses enormous power for work, we 
conclude at once that it is not, and never will be, of any value 
for navigation. The greater part of its course is through a 
canyon so deep and rugged that only two parties have ever 
succeeded in going down the river from its upper waters to 

its mouth. 

Since the river is of no use for navigation and trade, it 
can aid manufacturing only through the power which it af¬ 
fords. The mouth of the river, in the Gulf of California, is 
very interesting, but at the same time dangerous for boats, 
even of large size. A great “bore” caused by the tide ascends 
the lower part of the river when the tide comes in. The waves 
of this bore are sometimes over twenty feet high, and recently 
overturned a steamer which was bringing laborers to the cot¬ 
ton fields of the delta. < 1101 & 

The Columbia river and its mam branch, the Snake, otter 

stretches of quiet water where local steamers ply, but there 


128 


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are waterfalls and rapids which seriously interfere with con¬ 
tinuous navigation. These rivers, as we might expect, offer 
great opportunities for electric power. 

Those far northern rivers, the Yukon, in Alaska, and the 
McKenzie, in the Northwest Territory, are valuable for nav¬ 
igation in the summer, but are frozen up during eight months 
of the year. 

Manufacturing is becoming important on the Pacific coast, 
because of the ocean highway, the great cities that are grow¬ 
ing up there, the abundance of petroleum for fuel, the electric 
power from the mountain streams, and the mild, healthful 
and pleasant climate which is drawing people from all over 
the world. 

We cannot expect the interior of the Western highlands 
to ever become noted for its manufacturing industries because 
of the lack of cheap water transportation, the cost of living 
and the long distance from markets. 



Celilo Falls, Columbia River. The presence of rapids and waterfalls 
make continuous navigation of the Columbia River im¬ 
possible until locks are built. Note the barren 
character of the country. 







UNITED STATES 


129 


CHAPTER 17. 

ALTHOUGH THE FARMERS OF THE NORTHEASTERN 
STATES CANNOT RAISE GRAIN OR STOCK AS CHEAP¬ 
LY AS THE PRAIRIE FARMER, YET HAS NOT THE 
GROWTH OF THE GREAT CITIES IN THIS PART OF 
THE UNITED STATES, WITH THEIR MILLIONS OF 
PEOPLE TO BE FED, GIVEN THE EASTERN FARMER 
AN ADVANTAGE AFTER ALL? 

When the fertility of the prairie lands first became known 
and the New England farmers, who could do so, went West, 
the Eastern cities were small and there was little demand for 
country produce. Now there are millions of people connected 
with the countless factories and millions of others who are en¬ 
gaged in different occupations. All these people have to be 
fed, and depend upon the farmers. 

The city people want fresh vegetables every day; they 
want fresh milk and butter, small fruits and berries, the most 
of which, in order to reach the table in good condition, must 
be grown close to hand. The fertile lowlands along the rivers 
and near the coast are now given over to market gardening. 
The rocky hill slopes where once the farmer could hardly raise 
enough in the summer to last him through the winter, now 
support countless dairies, for the rocks do not interfere very 
much with pasturing. 

The farming operations have therefore greatly changed 
throughout all the Eastern States to suit the demand of the 
great cities. We can see the same thing here in California. 
If we take a ride through the country about San Francisco or 
Los Angeles, we may see what is required in the vegetable, 
berry, fruit and dairy lines to give the people of a large city 
the fresh foods that they need. These industries are car¬ 
ried on as near the cities as possible in order that the pro¬ 
duce may be taken on trucks to the wholesale market in the 

early morning. . 

The railroads which branch out from every city afford 

opportunities for dairymen to keep their cows many miles 
out in the country and yet get their milk to the city m ties 1 

condition. 


130 


UNITED STATES 


We might say that the whole farming industry of the 
Northwest and Eastern States has been made over because of 
the needs of the great cities of the region. 

DO THE NEEDS OF THE GREAT CITIES OF THE EAST 
AFFECT THE WORK OF ONLY THOSE FARMERS WHO 
LIVE NEAR THEM, OR DOES IT REACH CLEAR ACROSS 
THE CONTINENT? 

Because of the long winters in the north, it is late in the 
spring and almost summer before the fresh vegetables and 
berries raised there reach the market. As we go south, spring 
comes earlier and earlier, and by the time we have reached 
southern Florida we find fresh grown vegetables in the mar¬ 
ket the year round. 

Because of the good water communication with North¬ 
ern cities, the market gardeners have taken advantage of the 
early season in the South to send the North fresh produce, 
while the latter region is still cold and snowy. As spring 
comes on, gardeners living all the way up the coast to New 
York send their produce north, one after the other, until the 
regions about these northern cities are able to send to mar¬ 
ket the things wanted. 

Even far away California supplies many early vegetables 
and fruits for the Eastern market, particularly such things as 
thrive better here than upon the South Atlantic coast. 

Imperial valley ships early lettuce, cantaloupes, tomatoes 
and table grapes to the Eastern market. Early cherries and 
apricots are shipped from the warm slopes under the Coast 
ranges in the Sacramento valley. Through the use of refrig¬ 
erator cars, these and many other vegetables and fruits go 
East in large quantities and arrive there in good condition. 

JUDGING FROM THE MAP ALONE, WHERE OUGHT WE 
TO FIND THE GREATEST CITIES OF THE CONTINENT? 

Should they not be situated where there are the best op¬ 
portunities to ship to other lands the home products and to 
receive other products in return? San Francisco ought to be 
one of these, because of its great bay and large valley lying 
back of it. New Orleans ought to be another, because it is 
situated at the mouth of the greatest river which drains the 
greatest lowland. New York ought to be a third, because of 
its harbor, while Chicago should be the largest interior city. 

In answering this question, we have been guided partly 
by the climate, for if the Gulf of St. Lawrence were further 


UNITED STATES 


131 


south, where the winters were less severe, one of the greatest 
cities of the continent should be looked for upon it. 

WHY IS IT THAT PHILADELPHIA, ALTHOUGH IT HAS 
A MOUNTAIN BARRIER SEPARATING IT FROM THE 
OHIO AND. MISSISSIPPI VALLEYS, WAS ONCE THE 
LARGEST CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND NOW 
RANKS ONLY THIRD IN SIZE? 

Philadelphia was once larger than New York. It lies 
upon a navigable river a few miles above the head of one of 
the largest bays on the Atlantic coast. It lies in the midst of 
a fertile farming region and is on the land highway between 
the North and the South. 

To the west of Philadelphia are the valuable anthracite 
coal fields, and farther west, in the same State, are bitumin¬ 
ous coal fields and petroleum deposits. We would naturally ex¬ 
pect that import manufacturing would grow up about the city. 

But after all, Philadelphia lacks easy communication with 
the vast farm lands of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. This 
is the reason that it did not remain the largest city on the 
continent. It is because New York is at the Atlantic end of 
an easy land and water route to the interior that it has be¬ 
come the first city in importance. 

WHY DO THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK CITY OBJECT TO 
OUR COUNTRY JOINING WITH CANADA AND HELP¬ 
ING OPEN THE GREAT LAKES WATERWAY DOWN 
THE ST. LAWRENCE? 

Most of the freight and most of the travel between North 
America and other lands goes through the port of New York. 
We have more to do with Europe than with any other conti¬ 
nent, and New York lies upon the direct route. 

While small boats can now go from Duluth, the great 
wheat shipping port on the Lakes, down to Quebec by means 
of canals around the falls and rapids, this is not enough. It 
is proposed to enlarge the canals so that ocean-going boats 
can reach Duluth and other Lake ports and load their cargoes 
direct for Europe without change. This would save quite a 
bit of expense. 

It is proposed to make this a joint waterway for Canada 
and the United States, but New York City objects, because 
it would take away from that port a large amount of freight 
which now reaches it by means of the Erie canal. What do 
you think about this? How do you think the farmer feels 


132 


UNITED STATES 


about this proposed canal? Will it be of advantage to him? 
Would it affect the California farmers? 

CHICAGO IS SITUATED UPON WHAT WAS ONCE LOW, 
MARSHY GROUND AT THE HEAD OF LAKE MICHIGAN. 
HOW IS IT THAT IT HAS BECOME THE LARGEST IN¬ 
LAND CITY OF THE CONTINENT? 

Although Chicago is low and was once not a very pleas¬ 
ant place to live, yet its position gives it such remarkable ad¬ 
vantage that it could not help but attract great numbers of 
people, and it has grown more rapidly than any other of the 
large cities of the land. 

Its position on Lake Michigan made Chicago a favorite 
place for the early travelers to camp, since with a short port¬ 
age they could reach the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. 

Land travelers from the Northwest to the Ohio Valley 
had to go around Lake Michigan, and therefore past the spot 
upon which the city is located. Freight from the South for 
the Lake region naturally was taken to Chicago and there put 
on boats. To make trade easier with the Mississippi, a canal 
was built connecting with the Illinois river, but this is not at 
present much used. Later, the Chicago Drainage Canal, at 
a level of the Lake, was dug to help take care of the sew¬ 
age of the city. 

The situation is convenient for iron manufacturing, since 
the ore can be landed there cheaply and coal can be brought 
from the mines, a little distance away, by railroad. 

The demand of the rich farming region, of which the 
city is the center, led to its becoming the center for the man¬ 
ufacture of agricultural machinery. 

The huge crops of corn and other grain raised near by, 
taken together with the shipping facilities, led to its becom¬ 
ing the greatest meat packing center. 

Railroads now extend out in every direction, like the 
spokes of a wheel, and reach all parts of the country. 

Waterways lead away in two opposite directions. In 
truth we cannot think of any finer situation for a great city. 
Are the rivers and lakes in the Eastern half of North Amer¬ 
ica of any particular value to the people of California? 

Do we make use of these waterways in shipping prod¬ 
ucts to the Eastern markets or in getting manufactured arti¬ 
cles back? The longest part of the distance to New York, 


UNITED STATES 


133 


Philadelphia or Boston is between California and the Missis¬ 
sippi river. In this stretch of country there are no naviga¬ 
ble rivers. 

It would not pay to transfer our products to boats when 
they reached the Mississippi river at Chicago. To make sure 
of their arrival in good condition in the Eastern coast cities, 
these products must be carried as quickly as possible in re¬ 
frigerator cars. 

Goods for California from the East might be shipped by 
water as far as the Mississippi river, but it is better to send 
them all the way by railroad. The cheaper way, if the articles 
are heavy and we are not in a hurry for them, is to send them 
to New Tork and there have them shipped by steamer to Los 
Angeles or San Francisco, by way of the Panama canal. 

WHY DO MOST OF THE MAIN LINE RAILROADS OF 
NORTH AMERICA RUN IN AN EASTERLY AND WEST¬ 
ERLY DIRECTION, RATHER THAN NORTHERLY AND 
SOUTHERLY? 

We must not forget, of course, that there is an impor¬ 
tant trade between the hot lands of the South and the cold 
lands of the North, for in each region are grown fruits, etc., 
which the other lacks. The most of this trade can be either 
carried on by means of the Mississippi river or the Atlan¬ 
tic ocean. 

The earlier explorers traveled West. More people now 
travel east and west than north and south. 1 he goods from 
Asia for the Eastern States and Europe go east. Manufac¬ 
tured products of the East and of Europe go west to reach 
the Pacific Coast. Because of these things all the early rail¬ 
roads were built towards the West, in the direction in which 
people were moving with oxen and horse wagons, when they 
could go no other way. There are about six main lines of 
railroad by which we may go East from the Pacific Coast of 
the United States. Two other lines cross Canada in an east 
and west direction. We can go noith fiom California by only 
one railroad, and southeast into Mexico by two. Why do we 
go to Alaska by boat rather than by land? 

People travel around the world more commonly in an 
east and west direction, partly because most of the countries 
with which we have relations and do our tiading, lie either 
east or west. South America is the chief land to the south 

with which we deal. 


134 


UNITED STATES 


CHAPTER 18. 

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES WHICH OUR COUNTRY 
ENJOYS AND WHICH HAVE HELPED MAKE IT THE 
GIANT POWER OF THE NEW WORLD? 

A. The People of the United States. 

Most of the people of the United States are the descend¬ 
ants of emigrants from western and northwestern Europe. 
They were among the most ambitious of the people of their 
native lands, or they would not have braved the dangers 
and trials of going to a far away land and making their 
homes here. 

The people of the United States are a mixture of many 
different nationalities of Europe. The climate is cool enough 
to make them active and energetic, but not so cold as to 
make life too hard. 

We ought not to be surprised that the best of the people 
of Europe have made the greatest and best country in the 
New World. This is a democratic country and has the best 
of educational advantages for its children. 

B. The Advantages of Position and Boundaries. 

The United States, except for its outlying possessions, 
lies wholly within the north temperate belt. Thus the greater 
part is neither very cold nor very warm. This favors our 
doing the most and best work and having also time to play. 

The United States extends across the continent from 
east to west, facing on the the two most important oceans. It 
has besides a navigable waterway along a part of its north¬ 
ern boundary, and a great gulf on its southern boundary. 
The opportunities of the United States for trade by water 
with all the countries of the world is better than that of any 
other nation. If it were not for the frozen northern coast, 
Canada would be as well situated as our country. 

C. The Natural Resources of the United States. 

The United States possesses the largest, best watered, 
most accessible lowland of any of the continents. In addition, 



UNITED STATES 


135 


this lowland has a climate which makes it wonderfully pro¬ 
ductive. The United States is better supplied with fuel, both 
petroleum and gas, than any other country. In the mountains, 
especially of the Western highlands, there are uncounted treas¬ 
ures of gold, silver, lead and zinc. 

Nature gave the land occupied by the United States, for¬ 
ests which would have been inexhaustible had they been taken 
care of. 

The agricultural products are wonderfully varied because 
of the great variety of climates. 

The mountain streams offer water power as great as we 
can ever use. 

D. Advantages for Trade and Commerce. 

The United States has a great extent of coast line, the 
most of which is supplied with harbors. The United States 
is accessible by water from nearly every direction, while the 
eastern half is well supplied with navigable streams. 



A valley in the Klamath Mountains. The chief industry here is min 
ing. The bottom land has been washed away in order to get 
at the placer gold. In one corner is a sluice box for 
carrying water with which to wash the gravel. 











136 


UNITED STATES 


The Atlantic coast faces Europe, with its supplies of man¬ 
ufactured articles and its need for our raw products. 

The Pacific Coast faces on all the countries of the Pacific 
ocean in which there will be some day a market for all that 
we can produce, and from which we receive both fruits and 
raw products for manufacturing, and very attractive hand¬ 
made articles. 

COMPARISON OF THE UNITED STATES WITH OTHER 
COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA. 

WHY ARE MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA OCCUPIED 
BY SUCH BACKWARD PEOPLE, THOUGH THEIR COUN¬ 
TRIES ARE BLESSED WITH A GREAT VARIETY OF 
NATURAL RESOURCES? 

The native inhabitants (Aztecs) found by the Spaniards 
living upon the table-land of Mexico, were among the most 
advanced of the Indians. This shows that the region is fav¬ 
orable to the progress of people. 

Mexico and the Central American States have, however, 
made but little progress as compared with the United States. 
The Spaniards were easy going and disliked hard work. A 
large part of the population is now of mixed Indian and Span¬ 
ish blood, and as the Indians do not like hard work we should 
not be surprised at Mexico’s backward condition. 

The climate of the highlands is very healthful, although 
it is in the tropics. The climate of the region is also dry, so 
that irrigation has to be carried on. There are rich deposits of 
silver, gold, copper and zinc in the mountains. The coast low¬ 
land upon the eastern side, though hot and unhealthful, can 
be made healthful, as the United States has shown in the case 
of the Panama canal zone. These lowlands are wonderfully 
rich and productive and contain great quantities of tropical 
hardwoods. 

The Pacific coast is not so wet as the Eastern coast. It 
contains a great extent of fertile but almost uncultivated land. 
Here are grown early fruits and vegetables, some of which, 
such as tomatoes, we see in the markets early in the spring, 
before our tomatoes are ripe. 

WHY IS THE GREATER PART OF CANADA, A COUNTRY 
ALMOST AS LARGE AS THE UNITED STATES, ALMOST 
UNINHABITED EXCEPT IN THE SOUTHERN PART 
ALONG THE UNITED STATES BOUNDARY? 


UNITED STATES 


137 


Canada is inhabited by people of English descent as well 
as by others from northern Europe, who are as progressive 
and energetic as we are. The distribution of the population 
is determined by the temperature. 

We can make our homes in the tropics although born in 
a temperate climate, and be fairly healthy and prosperous, by 
taking care of ourselves. But where nature has made it too 
cold for farming to be carried on we cannot make any changes. 

Mining and fur hunting have drawn men into the far 
north and northwest parts of Canada, but is only for money 
and not to make homes. 

The St. Lawrence valley, the region of the lower Great 
Lakes and the grain region of the northern prairies, holds 
most of the people of Canada. 

WHY HAVE THE WET EAST INDIES, WHICH POSSESS, 
ON THE WHOLE, A HEALTHFUL CLIMATE THOUGH 
IN THE HOT BELT, REMAINED SO BACKWARD? 

The early Spanish conquerors set the Indians to work 
upon their plantations and through their cruelty soon killed 
them off. Then they imported negroes for this work, and 
now more than half the population of the Islands, as a whole, 
is negro. Cuba and Porto Rica contain a good many people 
of Spanish descent. 

With a population of this kind, it is easy for us to un¬ 
derstand why the people as a whole are so backward. The 
Islands are delightful places to go for a winter vacation, and 
a great many Eastern people take advantage of this, for they 
can reach them easier than they can California. 

WE HAVE LEARNED A GREAT MANY GOOD THINGS 
ABOUT THE UNITED STATES. LET US NOW SEE IF 
IT HAS ANY DISADVANTAGES. 

Highlands lie near both the eastern and western borders 
of the country so that most of the streams emptying into the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans are navigable for only short dis¬ 
tances. The highlands also interfere with access to the inte¬ 
rior from both east and west. 

The greatest river system opens southward and not in 
the direction of the greatest travel and trade. The northern 
rivers and bays are of little use because frozen over most of 

the year. 


138 


UNITED STATES 


The outlet of the Great Lakes lies in Canada and is frozen 
up part of the year. 

There are large deserts, upon many of which it is impos¬ 
sible to get water for irrigation. 

WHAT INFLUENCES HAVE MADE THE DISTRIBUTION 

OF THE PEOPLE OVER THE UNITED STATES SO 

UNEQUAL? 

1 . The eastern portion has the densest population because: 

a. The region was settled first. 

b. The region is nearest Europe, from which most of 
the immigrants come. 

c. A part of this region has rich farm lands, and all 
has a good rainfall. 

d. Conditions were favorable to the early development 
of manufacturing. 

e. Conditions favored the growth of commerce. 

2 . The Ohio and central Mississippi valleys stand next to 
the Atlantic slope in density of population. 

a. These valleys contain a great area of fertile and 
easily cultivated land. 

b. Underneath the surface in many places are deposits 
of coal and petroleum. 

c. There are many navigable streams. 

d. Raw materials, easy communication and cheap fuel 
favor manufacturing. 

3 . The mountain uplands still remain sparsely settled. 

a. There is comparatively little good farm land in the 
mountains. 

b. It is expensive building roads and railroads to ship 
products out. 

c. Difficulty of access is unfavorable to manufacturing, 
though there is an abundance of water power and fuel. 

4 . The Great Plains and deserts have settled slowly. 

a. The lack of rain has kept farmers away, except from 
those parts where water has been obtained for irri¬ 
gation. 

b. The occupation of cattle and sheep raising upon these 
dry lands demands very few people to carry it on. 

c. Mining has drawn people into parts of the deserts. 


Cn 


UNITED STATES 


139 


The Pacific coast has settled rapidly. 

a. This region contains much gold. 

b. The region is suited to a great variety of plant pro¬ 
ducts. 

c. The outlet upon the Pacific offers great advantages 
for trade. 

d. The climate is agreeable and healthful. 

6. Rainfall and temperature have had a great influence in 
determining where people have made their homes. 

a. Regions of moderate heat and cold and moderate 
rainfall have settled rapidly. 

b. The farmers quickly settled areas where there were 
no forests to be cleared. 

c. Regions of heavy rainfall and great heat settled 
slowly. 

d. Regions of extreme cold settled slowly. 

e. Regions with little water settled slowly. 

f. Regions on lines of trades settled rapidly. 

g. Regions with coal and iron settled rapidly. 


140 


THE WORLD 


PART III. 

TOPIC:—THE LANDS BEYOND THE OCEAN, ABOUT 
WHICH WE HAVE HEARD MANY THINGS, BUT WHICH 
WE HAVE NEVER SEEN. 


GENERAL PROBLEM. 

To Find Out Why California Trades with Nearly All the Countries 
of the Great World, though it is Such a Complete Little World 
in Itself that it Could Get Along Very Nicely, if Necessary, with 
What it Produces Within its Own Borders. 


INTRODUCTION. 

We produce in California almost everything that we really 
need, yet our trade with people of other lands is very large. 
We can easily understand that most parts of the earth are not 
as fruitful as our land and why that people who live in those 
parts are very glad to obtain what we have to spare. But 
why do we want anything that they have? 

Our previous work in geography has shown us that there 
are lands far to the north where the cold is so great that only 
a few food plants grow. There are other lands to the south 
where the heat and moisture are so great that our food plants 
do not thrive. There are lands where most of the people are 
engaged in other occupations than that of planting and har¬ 
vesting and have to buy much of their food. 

But food is not the only thing for which different peo¬ 
ples carry on trade with each other. The materials which 
one wishes to use in his clothing are not always to be obtained 
in the home land; neither are iron and copper and the thou¬ 
sands of articles in which these metals are used. Besides 
these things, there are fibers useful in many ways; there are 
dyes, precious stones and many other things that you can 
think of. Some of these are found in one part of the world 
and some in another. It is through trade that they are dis- 




THE WORLD 


141 


tributed so that everyone who wishes them can obtain them. 

The people of each country have become skilled in mak¬ 
ing certain things. The Chinese and Japanese are noted for 
their wonderful porcelain dishes and vases. The Swiss are 
noted for their wood carving. The Italians are noted for 
their jewelry. The Persians are noted for their rugs. The 
Hindus are noted for their artistic metal work. The United 
States is noted for its farm machinery and automobiles. 

When the people of one country learn of the pleasant 
tasting fruit, of the beautiful cloths, jewelry and wares of 
various sorts produced by the people of another country they 
go there to buy what they can of them, or give their own prod¬ 
ucts in exchange. This is one reason why we Californians, 
who live in a land having such a variety of products, carry 
on so much business with the people of other lands. 


142 


THE WORLD 


CHAPTER 19 

THERE MUST BE SOME AMONG THE MANY LANDS OF 
THE EARTH WITH A CLIMATE AND NATURAL PRO¬ 
DUCTIONS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF CALIFORNIA, 
WHERE SHALL WE LOOK FOR THESE LANDS AND 
IS OUR TRADE WITH THEM LIKELY TO BE VERY 
IMPORTANT? 

To begin with, let us review some of the things we have 
learned about the climate and resources of California. Our 
State lies in the warmer part of the north temperate belt. It 
is a land of summer drought and winter rains. This means 
that irrigation is necessary to produce most crops. The pre¬ 
vailing wind is from the west. It must therefore come oft* 
the Pacific ocean. This makes the winters warmer and the 
summers colder than they would otherwise be. Mountain 
ranges cut off the cool moist wind, so that in summer the 
interior valleys are hot and dry. The high mountains are 
very cold and snowy and have an arctic climate. Thus it is 
that between the cool coast, the hot interior valleys and the 
cold mountains, we find growing a wonderful variety of fruits, 
grains and vegetables. 

To find out what other lands there are, if any, that have 
a climate like that of California, we must learn something 
about the winds, in addition to knowing how far south or 
how far north of the equator the places are and how their 
mountains lie. Every sailor knows there are belts of wind that 
extend around the earth in an easterly and westerly direction 
and that the quickness or slowness of his voyage depends upon 
which belt he gets into. He knows also that these belts of 
wind do not remain in the same place the whole year, but that 
they move north when the sun comes north in the spring and 
south when the sun goes south in the fall. 

The California farmer has learned that he is in a belt of 
westerly winds and storms during the winter, but as summer 
approaches the weather becomes dry because the storm belt 
has moved towards the north. A belt of changeable and light 
winds has come up from the south. This belt is called by that 


THE WORLD 


143 


strange name, the "horse latitude”. If he could travel south 
across this belt he would come to the belt of the northeastern 
trade winds, where he would find rain again. If lie kept on 
until the sun shone directly overhead at noon, he would find 
himself in another belt of calms. The belt instead of being 
dry like the "horse latitude” has almost daily showers. 

Now, let us return to California. Our home land is in 
the southern edge of the belt of westerly winds and storms. 
When this belt moves south in the winter, we have rain. When 
summer comes, the belt has moved north. Rain falls in British 
Columbia, but we get none; and so we call California the land 
of "summer drought” or "summer sunshine”. 

Now let us take a globe or map and trace our course upon 
it, imagining that we are flying east with the west wind be¬ 
hind us. If there are any other countries that have a climate 
like California we shall find them. If we start from San Fran¬ 
cisco, we shall reach the Atlantic ocean near Washington. If 
we start from Los Angeles in an easterly course, it will take 
us near Charleston. Either route crosses the Rocky moun¬ 
tains and the Mississippi valley. 



This is a scene in southeastern Spain, the only region in the whole of 
the Mediterranean region of Europe where date palms thrive 
and produce good dates. You can see the bunches of 
dates hanging from the trees. 












144 


THE WORLD 


We have already learned why the interior of our country 
and the Atlantic coast to the east of California have a cold 
winter climate, too cold for oranges and other semi-tropical 
fruits. In this part of our country it rains in the summer so 
that the climate is altogether different from that of California. 

Continuing the journey east over the Atlantic, the first 
land we come to is the southwestern tip of Europe and the 
northwestern tip of Africa. We will land at Gibraltar and 
explore Spain. The people and their language are strange, 
but their homes are not unlike many that we see in Southern 
California. There are so many other sights, however, that 
remind us of our home that we almost feel we are in another 
California. There are beautiful palms waving in the soft air. 
There are groves of orange, lemon and olive trees. There 
are vineyards with trays of raisins drying in the sun. There 
are irrigation ditches carrying water to the orchards and vine- 
vards, which tell us more certainly than if we could talk with 
the people that the land we are in is a land of summer sun¬ 
shine like California. 

In winter the westerly winds and storms reach southern 
Spain. In summer the rain belt moves northward as it does 
in California, and a warm, dry belt comes up from the south 
to take its place. If we went into the interior we would find 
mountains, on the high slopes of which there are temperate 
fruits, just as upon the mountain slopes of our own land. 

We continue our eastward journey through the Strait of 
Gibraltar. Upon our right rises the lofty Atlas range of North 
Africa. Should we land at any point upon the African shore, 
we would find a close resemblance in the vegetation there to 
that of California. But we must not stop, for there is the 
whole coast of the Mediterranean sea to be explored before 
we return. As we continue the journey eastward, the next 
land to come in sight is the great Island of Sicily. Here upon 
the slopes of the volcano of Etna are miles of vineyards and 
orchards of lemons and orange trees. 

Now, the long peninsula of Italy lies across our course. 
Again we see a resemblance between the stucco houses, with 
their red tiled roofs, to many of the newer homes of Southern 
California. Orchards of semi-tropical fruit dot the country. 

Beyond Italy lies the peninsula of Greece, where the 
rocky mountain sides are terraced to hold giant olive trees. 


THE WORLD 


145 


This land appears, like the other Mediterranean countries we 
have visited, to receive a light rainfall. 

At the extreme eastern end of the great sea we come to 
Palestine and Syria. We find in the City of lafifa the most 
delicious seedless oranges we have eaten since leaving Cali¬ 
fornia. 

We have now made the circuit of the Mediterranean sea, 
with the exception of Egypt. This ancient land borders a 
part of the sea and extends so far south that the rains of the 
westerly wind belt do not reach it even in winter. Sometimes 
rain does not fall in Egypt for ten years, and there would be 
no green thing there were it not for the river Nile. 

If we leave out of account Egypt and Tripoli, where ought 
we to look for the driest and hottest of the Mediterranean 
lands ? Is not this land found in the southeast corner of Spain, 
where the high Sierra Nevada mountains cut off the west 
winds and where the hot winds of Africa are felt. In this 
warm spot are groves of date palms with their delicious fruit. 
How much the climate of this region must be like the Coa¬ 
chella and Imperial valleys in our own State, where the date 
palm also flourishes. 

Because of the lack of summer rains, the lowlands about 
the Mediterranean support a scanty vegetation, just as do our 
California valleys. Hot winds sometimes blow from the Sahara 
desert, while we in California sometimes suffer from hot winds 
from the deserts to the east of us. The wild plants of the Medi¬ 
terranean region are similar to ours. The same fruits thrive 
there as thrive in California. In both regions irrigation is 
necessary. 

The semi-tropic region of summer sunshine and winter 
rains which we have been visiting is said to have a “Mediter¬ 
ranean climate. ” California is a second Mediterranean region, 
and we are going to see if we can find others. Wherever over 
the whole world we find a place with such a climate, we think 
of it as a delightful land of sunshine, orange groves and irri¬ 
gating ditches. 

Do you think it likely that the people of one Mediterranean 
region would have much occasion for trading with those of 
another, since their natural products are so much alike? At 
present there is no reason for our going to Spain 01 any othei 
country about the Mediterranean sea for semi-tiopical fluffs, 
although there was a time when we did not grow all the raisin . 


146 


THE WORLD 


grapes or all of the lemons that we used. The people of Italy 
still sell us olive oil, however, because they can make it cheaper 
than we can. 

The Mediterranean countries have some natural products 
which we do not. Greece grows Zante currants, which are 

really little seed¬ 
less raisins. There 
is no reason why 
these grapes should 
not thrive in Cali¬ 
fornia. Italy is 
noted for its chest¬ 
nut forests. Every¬ 
where in the cities 
of Italy are street 
peddlers with their 
stands of roasted 
chestnuts. We can 
buy Italian chest¬ 
nuts at some of the 
fruit stands in Cali¬ 
fornia. 

Spain has its cork 
oak trees, from the 
bark of which all 
our corks are made. 
These trees do not 
grow in thick for¬ 
ests, but are scattered over the hillsides and valleys, in the same 
manner as our beautiful oaks are scattered throughout the val¬ 
leys of California. 

The people of some of the Mediterranean lands make 
beautiful and artistic goods, of many sorts, in their own pe¬ 
culiar way. We buy from the Italians, cameos, silver filigree 
work, pottery and statues. 

Has California anything to sell that the people about the 
Mediterranean sea want? These countries are very mountain¬ 
ous and some of them do not raise enough wheat for their own 
use. We once had wheat to sell but our farmers are finding 
it more profitable to raise fruit, and so we have to buy a part 
of the wheat we need. The Eastern States sell the Mediter¬ 
ranean people coal, for their lands have little fuel of any kind. 



This great tree looks like one of our valley 
oaks, but it is in far away Spain. It is 
one of the cork oaks for which 
that country is so noted. 



THE WORLD 


147 


le Eastern States ought to sell them farming implements, 
tor thens are very crude; but the farmers of the Mediter¬ 
ranean lands are poor and have little money with which to 
buy conveniences. 

Let us continue our search for other lands with a Mediter¬ 
ranean climate. We must not forget that these lands must lie 
in about the latitude of California, that is they must be east 
or west of us, must be lowlands and must have their winds 
blow off some ocean or sea. 

As we go east from the Mediterranean lands, we enter 
Asia. We travel for thousands of miles across deserts and 
over lofty mountains and plateaus; we cross the highest moun¬ 
tains in the world. The first countries that we reach that have 
a sea coast are China and Japan. But is the climate in any part 
of these countries like that of California? If we reach China 
during the winter, we shall find a dry, cold land wind blowing 
from the north. It is loaded with dust from the desert of Mon¬ 
golia and reminds us of the desert winds of Southern Cali¬ 
fornia, only these Chinese winds are colder. 

If we visit the east coast of Asia in the summer, we shall 
find that the winds .have turned about and are blowing from 
the ocean, bringing with them abundant rains. These ocean 
winds blow steadily like the trade winds, but are called “mon¬ 
soon winds.” China and Japan are, then, unlike California, 
for they have their wet season in the summer and their dry 
season in the winter. From what we know of our home cli¬ 
mate, we can safely say that those parts of China having the 
same latitude, must be too cold for semi-tropical fruits and 
that to find these we shall have to go farther south. A few 
oranges are grown in southern Japan, but they do not have 
the sweetness of ours. Passing China and Japan, we find our¬ 
selves upon the Pacific ocean, with no more land except islands 
between us and our starting point in California. 


148 


THE WORLD 


CHAPTER 20. 

Let us now visit the lands in the Southern Hemisphere, 
as there may be some in that part of the world with a “Medi¬ 
terranean climate:” There is so little land in the Southern 
Hemisphere, that our journey will be largely upon the water. 

We will leave San Francisco or Los Angeles and voyage 
southeasterly along the Mexican, Central American and South 
American coasts until we reach a point as far south of the 
equator as California is north of the equator. We leave Cali¬ 
fornia in the west wind belt, but soon reach the belt of light 
winds and calms, which we have called the “horse latitude”. 
Reaching Central America, we get into the belt of northeast 
trade winds. These winds bring a great deal of rain to the 
countries about the Caribbean sea, but the west coast which 
we are passing is drier because of the high mountains of 
Central America. There is, however, enough to give the 
shore a rich and flourishing appearance. 

We pass Panama and the coast of South America. The 
country near the isthmus is low, and the rains brought by 
the trade winds cross it and for hundreds of miles cover the 
west coast of South America with a jungle so dense and so 
unhealthful to white people that few have settled there. 

After crossing the equator and its belt of almost daily 
showers, we wake up one morning in sight of an altogether 
different land. The high Andes mountains cut off the rain 
winds and the shores are as a result bare and desolate. We 
sail for two thousand miles along a coast with only here and 
there a green spot where some river flows down to the coast 
from the high snow covered Andes. 

South of the equator there are the same wind and rain 
belts as north, but we meet them in just the opposite order. 
It is as though the earth were hinged at the equator and the 
part of the world lying north was turned over on that part 
south. The tropical belt of calms and rains lies both sides of 
the equator on a hinged line. If the northeast trade wind belt 
we have just passed through were turned over, it would form 
the southeast trade wind belt south of the equator. Next 


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towai ds the south would come the “horse latitude,” and then 

the westerly wind belt for which we are looking. It is in the 

westerly wind belt one must remember that the Mediterranean 
climate is found. 


VVe finally reach central Chile, as far south of the equator 
as California is north. We go ashore at Valparaiso and take 
a tram over a low coast range for Santiago, the capital of the 
country. Here m the “Beautiful Valley of Chile” we are in 
another California, with its Mediterranean climate. All about 
us are oichards and vineyards of the same semi-tropic fruits 
that we are familiar with at home. 

The belts of winds and calms move back and forth in the 
Southern Hemisphere, just as they do in the Northern; the 
only difference is that the seasons are the reverse of ours. If 
we leave California in the spring, when the trees are blossom¬ 
ing, we shall find it is fall in the valley of Chile. Grapes are 
ripe, the temperate fruits are being picked, but the oranges 
have not yet begun to color. Rains fall in the winter as they 
do in California, while the summers are dry. Back of the beau¬ 
tiful valley of Chile rise the lofty Andes mountains with their 
vast snow fields, which supply an abundance of water for irri- 



South America supplies us with a part of the wool we weave. A part 
of South American wool goes to England, is there woven into 
cloth and then comes to the United States. 
















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gation. If we go south through this beautiful valley, we find 
in the course of a few hundred miles that the climate becomes 
colder and wetter, just as it does when we go north from Cali¬ 
fornia through Oregon and Washington. 

People from many different countries have settled in 
Chile, but most of them are Spanish who speak the Spanish 
language. The industries are mainly the raising of fruit, 
cattle and sheep. Since they produce the same things that we 
do and have not yet manufactured much of anything that we 
would like to buy, it is plain to see that we have little occasion 
to trade with them. 

Since we have headed east on a journey around the world, 
in the Southern Hemisphere we must next cross the Andes 
mountains. There are many peaks that rise higher than the 
Sierra Nevada mountains, but there are passes between them. 
Through one of these a railroad has been built. This will finally 
land us in Buenos Aires, the largest city of South America. 

Descending the eastern slope of the Andes we come to a 
desert region where irrigation is necessary. What we have 
already learned about the climate of California helps us to 
understand how the Andes break the west winds and take from 
them their moisture. The eastern side of the Andes, where we 
cross them, is then a desert, for the same reason that Nevada, 
lying east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, is a desert. 

The railroad carries us across the plains of Argentine to 
the mouth of the Plata river. The rainfall gradually increases 
as we approach the Atlantic ocean, just as it does in our own 
country from the dry plains at the foot of the Rocky moun¬ 
tains to the forest covered Atlantic coast. 

Instead of going to Buenos Aires, we will turn northward 
across the Plata river to the little country of Uruguay, with 
its delightful sub-tropical climate. Here are lemon and orange 
groves, but the people generally prefer raising cattle and sheep 
to growing fruit. This is a pleasant land, with rains both 
winter and summer, but its climate is not Mediterranean, al¬ 
though the same fruits grow there that grow in California. 
We can no more say that it is another California than we can 
say that Florida is another California because oranges and 
lemons thrive there. Florida has summer rains and irrigation 
is not necessary. 

Now the South Atlantic ocean lies before us. Let us fol¬ 
low the parallel of 35 degrees south latitude, which is about 


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the same as that of 'Southern California in north latitude. The 
first land we reach is the extreme southern tip of Africa. We 
land at Cape Town and remain a year, to find out if it has such 
a climate as we are hunting for. 

We discover at once that oranges and other semi-tropical 
fruits with which we are familiar grow there in abundance. 
We find ourselves among English speaking people and feel 
quite at home. The climate turns out to be much like that of 
California, for as winter approaches the rains begin and last 
until spring. The summer is dry and sunny and irrigation 
is needed. 

In the Mediterranean region of South Africa, as well as 
in the others we have visited, we miss the ocean fogs which 
make the summers cool in all the coast valleys of California. 
Most of us agree in wishing that our home land did not have 
these fogs, but the farmers say they could not get along with¬ 
out them. The ocean water is colder off the California coast 
than it is off the other Mediterranean regions we have visited, 
and that is the reason we have the fogs. 



Thatching house roof with palm leaf mats in Southern Nigeria. 











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Africa reaches just far enough south so that the westerly 
wind belt reaches it in winter, while in summer it does not 
touch Africa at all, and the dry “horse latitude 1 ' belt gives the 
region its Mediterranean climate. It it not interesting to know 
that the two opposite ends of Africa have the same climate, 
while the hot, wet jungles along the equator occupy the middle 
part. 

Let us now leave South Africa and voyage on eastward 
across the Indian ocean. If we use a sailing vessel, it will be 
better for us to make the journey in the winter season, be¬ 
cause then the westerly winds will be behind us and help us 
on. In the summer we would have a much longer and more 
tiresome voyage because of the variable light winds and calms. 

We come in sight of no land at all until we reach the 
southern shores of Australia. Landing at various places, we 
again see orange orchards and irrigating ditches—sure signs 
that we are in a Mediterranean climate. There are not many 
orchards, for Australia, like South Africa, is far from parts 
of the world that offer good markets and the people find it 
more profitable to grow other things. 

We have now made the circuit of the world twice and 
found all the lands with a climate and productions like those 
of California. 

Our two journeys around the world in the westerly wind 
belts have shown us four regions besides that about the Med¬ 
iterranean sea in which the orange thrives and in which the 
lack of summer rains makes irrigation necessary. These are 
healthful, pleasant lands, but their inhabitants very naturally 
do not trade much with each other in products of the soil. 



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CHAPTER 21. 


WE HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING OF THE WONDERFUL 
VARIETY OF OUR CALIFORNIA PRODUCTS, A VARI¬ 
ETY SO GREAT THAT WE COULD GET ALONG, IF 
NECESSARY, WITHOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD. 
BUT WHEN WE MAKE A LIST OF THE FOOD, MEDI¬ 
CINES, CLOTHING MATERIALS, ART GOODS, TOYS, 
FIBERS, PRECIOUS STONES AND MINERALS, ONE OR 
MORE OF WHICH ARTICLES SHIPS BRING US FROM 
ALMOST EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD, WE REAL¬ 
IZE HOW MUCH WE DEPEND UPON OTHER PEOPLE. 
THE THINGS WE GET FROM THEM ADD TO OUR 
HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND USEFULNESS. BESIDES IN 
BUYING THESE THINGS WE HELP MAKE A MARKET 
FOR OUR OWN GOODS. 

1. THE FOOD PRODUCTS THAT WE GET FROM FOR¬ 
EIGN LANDS. 

WHY IS IT THAT MOST OF THE FOODS AND FOOD PROD¬ 
UCTS SENT TO CALIFORNIA COME FROM TROPICAL 
OR EQUATORIAL LANDS? 


The people of California have no need to send to other 
lands for temperate grains, fruits and vegetables. What we 
buy must come either from the arctic regions or from the trop¬ 
ics. We cannot expect the people of the North to have any¬ 
thing to sell to us in the food line unless it he fish. The food 
plants of the North are few and are, besides this, very much 
like those of the colder parts of our own country. 

We get great quantities of canned salmon from Alaska. 
The great fishing banks of the world are all in cold north¬ 


ern waters. 

Of course very few of the fruits, grains, vegetables and 
nuts of the temperate belt were found growing naturally m 
any one place. In trading with each other for thousands of 
years plants of one region have been carried to another, lhe 
indiairs found living in California when the white people first 
came, did not carry on agriculture, and all our important food 
plants have been brought from other lands The United States 
Government has agents all over the world, wheie the climate 


154 


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is temperate or sub-tropical, looking for new fruits and ber¬ 
ries that might be worth growing here. 

Tropical plants, with a few exceptions, will not grow and 
bear fruit in California, partly because of the dry air and 
partly because of the winter frosts. We must conclude then 
that most of the fruits and vegetable products shipped here 
from foreign lands come from the torrid or tropical belt where 
it rains a great deal and the air is very moist and where the 
sun is directly overhead during some portion of the year. It 
is not as hot in the tropics as it is in either Death Valley or 
Imperial Valley, but the heat and moisture together make the 
climate far less bearable for white people and produce a dif¬ 
ferent sort of vegetation. 



This is a street scene in the city of Singapore in southeastern Asia. 
Note the “rickshaw” and the coolie with his 
baskets of pineapples. 





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155 


CHAPTER 22. 

In order to learn of the tropical products that we buy, 
we will now visit southeastern Asia and the East India Is¬ 
lands, stopping first at Singapore, a city at the southern end 
of the Malay Peninsula and almost on the equator. A bright 
morning induces us to take a ride in a jinrikisha to the inter¬ 
esting tropical gardens. Before we are out long, clouds gather 
overhead, followed by repeated heavy showers and spells of 
sunshine, d he Chinese coolies pulling the two wheeled carts 
in which we are riding wear only a bit of cloth around the 
hips and do not mind the rain, for the air is so warm. The 
air is also damp, to such a degree that clothing packed in our 
trunks for a short time becomes covered with mold. Though 
sitting still, we are always sweaty. The nights are almost as 
warm as the days. 

How the native plants thrive in the warm, moist air! 
The endless variety of palms, the great bamboos, the tree 
ferns, the many strange trees with their tropical fruits, the 
vines and small plants, the strange dress and strange homes 
of the Malays, all together make up a world very different 
from that of California. 

We will now take a boat for the Island of Java, cross¬ 
ing the equator through quiet coral seas to Batavia, the cap¬ 
ital of the island. One of the most interesting sights in Ba¬ 
tavia is the native market, where are exposed for sale more 
strange fruits than we ever dreamed the tropics produced. 
There are among them some such as the coconut, the pine¬ 
apple, the banana, orange, grape fruit and limes, with which 
we are familiar. Among the strange ones are the bread fruit, 
mango, mangosteen, marmaduke and rambutan. The durian 
is the largest fruit; it has a delicious taste but a very disa¬ 
greeable smell. In one part of the market are grains, includ¬ 
ing millet, rice and sesamum. There are stacks of vanilla 
beans and such food products as sago and tapioca. There are 
stalls where the Island tobacco is lot sale, also sugai cane, 
cotton, sugar, tea, coffee and indigo. In another part we are 
surprised to see corn, rye and the common vegetables of the 


156 


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temperate belt. How can we explain the presence in this mar¬ 
ket of not only tropical products but also those of the semi¬ 
tropics and temperate belts? 

The Island of Java is about the size of California, but 
supports about ten times as many people. It is one of the rich¬ 
est tropical regions of the world and contains a wonderful va¬ 
riety of plants. It is so mountainous, and in places there are 
such vast, dense jungles in which, on account of fevers, not 
even the natives can live, that only forty acres out of every 
hundred can be cultivated. 

Although Java lies almost on the equator, we find in the 
market not only productions of the hot lands, but also those 
of the semi-tropics, such as the orange, lime and grape fruit, 
and even some from temperate climates, such as corn and 
potatoes. What is the explanation of this strange mixture, 
since we have learned that most fruits, grains and vegetables 
thrive only in the climate to which they are accustomed? The 
answer is found in the fact that the Island is very mountain¬ 
ous; it is one of the most remarkable volcanic regions in the 
world; some of the peaks rise as high as 12,000 feet. 

Just as in the case of California, many of the most val- 



Here is a group of the tropical fruits found in the markets of any of 

the tropical cities of southeastern Asia. 






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157 


liable plants are not native, but have been brought to the Is¬ 
land by the Dutch, who have made of it the richest garden 
spot in the world. The volcanic soil is very productive. Rains 
fall throughout the whole year and the air is always warm 
and moist. We must remember that near the equator there is 
little difference between winter and summer and that plants do 
not stop growing for a part of the year, as in California. As we 
look at Java from the sea, or out over the surface from a car 
window, as the train climbs to the highlands, it is hard to be¬ 
lieve that so many people live upon the island, for it appears 
to be one vast forest of coconut palms. 

The villages of the natives are so hidden by the palms that 
we are not aware of their existence until we are right in them. 
The bamboo and the palm supply all the materials for their 
homes. They do not make much use of the hardwoods that 
grow in the forests of the interior and which we consider so 
valuable. 

Many of the tropical fruits are, of course, found natur¬ 
ally in Java, but most of the tropical products that are impor¬ 
tant in its commerce have been introduced from other tropical 
lands. Among the latter are the cinchona tree, coffee tree, 
the tea plant, the banana tree and tobacco plant. The tem¬ 
perate fruits, grains and vegetables have all been brought from 
other regions. 

The greatest variety of products come from the hot, moist 
lowlands bordering the coast. Upon these are found the rub¬ 
ber and sugar plantations; a part of the tobacco, cotton, rice, 
millet and sesamum fields. Here grow the spice trees, includ¬ 
ing the nutmeg, cinnamon, mace and pepper. These were the 
most eagerly sought products of the Indies long before Co¬ 
lumbus discovered the New World. In order to be marketed 
in Europe, they had to be carried by sea to India. Then be¬ 
gan the long caravan journey across southwestern Asia to 
the shores of the Mediterranean sea. From this point boats 
carried the spices to Venice, Genoa or Barcelona for distri¬ 
bution over Europe. 

The coconut palms grow chiefly upon the lowlands. Back 
of these palms come the sago palms, which, in addition to the 
starch-like product known as sago, also pioduces sugai. 

Back of the coast lowlands we come to slopes where the 
air is a little drier and cooler. Here the native productions 


158 


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are quite different. Here are groves of cinchona trees, tea 
and coffee plantations, and the sugar palm. Tobacco and sesa- 
mum are also grown here. The most interesting sight in this 
belt is the rice fields. Each field of rice, whether big or small, 
is surrounded by a low bank of earth to hold the water neces¬ 
sary to flood the field. The natives wade in the mud and wa¬ 
ter when they transplant the little rice plants from a nearby 
nursery patch. The fields are kept flooded until the grain is 
nearly ready to harvest, and then the water is drawn off. The 
rice fields are built upon the slopes of the hills and mountains 
by terracing them. Each field forms a broad, flat step in the 
stairway. Where the slope is gentle, each patch of rice is 
large. Where the slope is steep, the patch must be small be¬ 
cause each one must be small and surrounded by a bank of 
earth to hold the water. 

It is interesting to watch the brightly dressed Javanese 
men, women and children as they cut the rice and tie it into 
little bundles to be taken home and threshed. Where the fields 
are large, the water buffalo is used to plow and prepare the 
land for the rice. During the heat of the day, these interest- 



Malays always build their houses near or over the water because 
their chief occupations have to do with the sea. Note the 
coconut palms overhanging the water. 
















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159 


ing animals can be seen in the streams or ponds, with only 
their heads sticking out. 

Higher still upon the mountain slopes we come to a tem¬ 
perate climate, but there is little to remind us of our home 
region, for with the exception of a few imported plants every¬ 
thing is different. There is scarcely any difference between 
winter and summer. Among the strange plants we see some 
that are familiar and tell us that, although we are almost on 
the equator, the climate is that of the temperate belt. There 
are oaks, chestnuts and laurels, and the natives that live there 
raise corn, tobacco, rye and the common vegetables of our 
country and Europe. They take these products in baskets 
down to the coast cities to sell. 

The Malays, who form the greater part of the inhabitants 
of Java, are more civilized than are the natives of the other 
East India Islands, for long ago Hindu immigrants settled 
there and brought the religion of Buddha. Later the Dutch 
gained control of Java and encouraged the natives to live bet¬ 
ter and to stop fighting among themselves. There is no more 
interesting sight anywhere than that of a fair or market. Huge 
covered carts come in, driven by water buffaloes, filled with 
all sort of produce. There are curious implements of every 
sort used by the natives—strange musical instruments and an 
endless variety of stamped cotton cloth called batik. This is 
worn by the women as a sort of shawl, and by both men and 
women as a short skirt. The men carry a short sword or 
dagger, called a kris. 

WHY IS IT ALTHOUGH JAVA IS SUCH A RICH TROPICAL 
LAND THAT WE CALIFORNIANS HAVE SO LITTLE 
TRADE WITH THE COUNTRY? 

The greater part of the trade of Java is naturally with 
Holland, the mother country. The most of the ships that carry 
away the products are Holland ships. 

Java is, besides this, very far away and the most of her 
tropical products we can buy nearer home. Among these aie 
rubber, tea, coffee, coconuts, copra, hardwoods, pineapples, 
cane sugar, cinchona, cacao, etc. 

Java is the most important of the East India islands. 1 o 
discover a route by which the spices of this region could reach 
Europe easier than overland across southern Asia was one of 



160 


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the objects of Columbus when be undertook the voyage that 
led to the discovery of America. 

Spices are used in all of our homes and we still get the 
most of them from the East Indies. We get sago and tapioca 
from Java, where the growth and preparation of these foods 
is an important industry. 



Pineapple field near Honolulu. 




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161 


ALTHOUGH THERE IS A WONDERFUL VARIETY OF TROP¬ 
ICAL FRUITS IN THE LANDS ALONG THE EQUATOR, 
WE FIND ONLY TWO KINDS EXCEPTING THE COCO¬ 
NUT IN OUR OWN MARKETS. WHAT IS THE REASON 
FOR THIS? 

It has been found impossible to carry most tropical fruits 
to the markets of temperate lands, because they spoil so 
quickly. The mango is one of the best, but it lias rarely been 
seen on our tables. One variety of the mango is now being 
grown in protected places in southern California; so we may 
be able to enjoy them without going to the tropics. 

We all know the Hawaiian pineapple, both fresh and 
canned. Singapore pineapples also sometimes reach our tables. 
This fruit is not only delicious, but also very healthful. 

The first pineapples that civilized people ate were found 
growing in the tropical parts of America; but the plant has 
now been transplanted to all tropical lands. As it does not 
stand frost, we shall never be able to grow this fruit in Califor¬ 
nia; but it does thrive in the extreme southern part of Florida. 

The most important pineapple plantations are in the Ha¬ 
waiian Islands. It is only about one-third of the distance to 
these islands that it is to Singapore and Java, so we naturally 
do not buy much from the latter countries. 



Bird peddlers in a Mexican city. Note the peculiar costumes. 














162 


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We have never learned definitely where the native home 
of the banana is, but it is now grown in all tropical countries. 
In some countries the natives almost live upon bananas, but 
the fruit is mostly starch and is not very nournishing. There 
are many different kinds of bananas, some of which are called 
plantain. In southeast China there is a variety that is so large 
that a single one forms a meal for three men. 

We get the most of our bananas from the Hawaiian Is¬ 
lands, though the coastal lowlands of Mexico and Central 
America supply us in part. In the latter country, the home 
of the banana is damp and very hot, so the native Indians and 
negroes do most of the work of gathering and loading the 
bunches of fruit. We would be surprised if we could see the 
many ships engaged in carrying bananas from the shores of the 
Caribbean sea to New York and other large eastern markets. 

Banana growing is about the most unhealthful industry 
you could engage in if you decided to make your home in the 
tropics, for it thrives best where the climate is the worst for 
white people. The lowlands where it thrives best have the 
further advantage of being near where steamers can take the 
fruit. Bananas will grow as high on the mountains of the 
tropics as is possible, without suffering from frost. 

One sort of banana palm, as we shall learn later, supplies 
a fiber (Manila hemp), valuable for cordage. 

Many banana plants are to be seen throughout southern 
California, especially near the coast, where there is the least 
danger of frost. Those in exposed places freeze down every 
winter. None of our plants produce any fruit. 

WE FIND THE PRODUCTS OF THE PALM TREE VERY 
USEFUL FOR MANY DIFFERENT PURPOSES, BUT THEY 
ARE NOT NECESSARY TO OUR COMFORT AND HAPPI¬ 
NESS. HOW IS IT THAT THIS TREE IS SO NECESSARY 
TO THE PEOPLES OF THE TROPICAL AND SUB-TROP¬ 
ICAL BELTS THAT MILLIONS OF THEM COULD NOT 
HAVE MADE THEIR HOMES WHERE THEY ARE IF IT 
WERE NOT FOR THE PALMS? 

The palms are not strangers to us here in California, for 
we see them growing everywhere in the valleys as a street and 
ornamental tree. There are many kinds that will thrive in 
California, and one specie is a native of the desert can¬ 
yons at the eastern base of the San Jacinto mountains. The 


THE WORLD 


163 



Coconut rafts, Papsanjan, Philippines 








164 


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region in which these palms grow has recently been made 
into a National Park. The most beautiful palm of all is 
the “queen palm”, which thrives in the warmer parts of 
southern California. 

From what we know of the palms, we can imagine how 
beautiful must be a landscape where palms of every descrip¬ 
tion form the chief trees. There are over one thousand vari¬ 
eties of palms. No other group of trees in all the world is 
so useful to so many people, especially the people of the tropics. 

We can imagine how the oases in the desert, with their 
springs of water and their date palms, gladden the heart of 
the Beduoin Arab of the Sahara; or how new life is put into 
the voyager in the South Seas when the coconut palms, rising- 
above an otherwise barren coral island, come in sight. 

Different palms prefer different places in which to live. 
The date palm and our native palm love the dry, hot air, but 
they must have their roots in water. The palms of the Ama¬ 
zon forest love the moist, hot air, so difficult for white peo¬ 
ple to endure. 

It seems as though Nature had purposely made the co¬ 
conut palm with a fruit of such sort that it could spread 
through- all the islands of the South Pacific ocean and thus 
form a source of food supply and, in many cases, the only 
source for the native explorers from southeastern Asia, when 
they ventured out, or were blown out by storms into the un¬ 
known regions of the ocean. When supplied with coconuts 
and fish from the sea, the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands 
manage to get along very comfortably. Coconut palms love 
the hot, moist lowlands that border the ocean; in fact, they 
do not object to having their roots in salt water, although 
they do not grow in the water as the mangrove does. So 
closely do the coconut palms crowd the ocean, that frequently 
their nuts fall into the water. About the hard nut, with its 
precious contents is a thick husk which the water cannot pen¬ 
etrate. Thus the coconut floats away, perhaps to lodge safely 
some weeks or months later upon some distant shore. This 
may be a coral reef just rising above the ocean. Here it 
sprouts, though washed over by the salt water, and finally 
grows to a tree. As the island increases in size other palms 
spring up and finally there is a little grove bearing fruit" 
enough to support any party of islanders that happens along 
and decides to make a home there. 


THE WORLD 


165 


Can you think of all the uses we can make of the coconut 
here in California? Our uses are, however, few in com¬ 
parison with the uses to which the South Sea Islanders put 
every part of the nut and tree. We should have to visit these 
people in their homes to realize how valuable to them is the 
coconut palm. The property or wealth of a native islander 
is reckoned by the number of coconut trees he owns. The 
roots, the stems, the young, tender shoots, the leaves, the husk, 
the shell, and finally the meat and milk within the nut, are 
all made use of. 


The coconut palms form vast forests along the coasts 
of India and the larger of the East India islands. As we go 
inland, as was seen in the Island of Java, the coconut is re¬ 
placed by other trees. Upon thousands of the smaller coral 
islands the coconut is almost the only tree. The gathering 
and exporting of copra, dried coconut meat, is the chief in¬ 
dustry of many of the islands of the South Pacific. Little 
sailing vessels go among the small islands, trading with the 
natives for copra. They bring this to some central port where 
large steamers take it to the United States or Europe. 

How different are the surroundings of the home of the 
date palm. It is just as necessary to the dwellers in the des¬ 
erts of Arabia and Sahara as the coconut is to the South Sea 
Islanders. It has been possible for large villages to grow up 
in the heart of the Sahara solely because of the date palm. If 
the springs forming an oasis are small, the spot may be only 
a stopping place for caravans. If there is an abundance of 
water, the date palms may number many thousands. Of 
course, the palm is not the only vegetation in the larger oases. 
There are grains of different kinds, as well as vegetables. 
Dates are especially valuable to the desert traveler, for they 
will keep indefinitely. They are very nourishing and can be 
easily carried. The stems, branches and leaves are also used 

for various purposes. 

In lava and the other East India Islands there is a va¬ 
riety of date palm, the sap of which, when it is boiled down, 
produces sugar. When allowed to stand and ferment, the sap 
makes an intoxicating drink called arrack. 

The date palm has been found to flourish and ripen de 
licious fruit in the hotter parts of California. Coachella an 
Imperial valleys have many orchards of date palms, the sprouts 


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from which the trees have grown having been brought from 
the oases in the Sahara desert. If Coachella valley had also 
the dark skinned Arabs and camel caravans, it would be easy 
for the children there to imagine themselves in Africa. 



Gathering dates in a desert oasis in North Africa. 



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167 


CHAPTER 23. 

HOW HAS IT COME ABOUT THAT WE DEPEND LESS 
UPON TROPICAL LANDS FOR OUR RICE AND SUGAR 
THAN WE DID ONCE? 

Once the rice we ate, with the exception of some grown 
in the Southern States, came from China and Japan. Now, 
as everyone knows, we grow in the Sacramento valley all the 
rice we want and can sell to others. 

We depend less upon sugar made from sugar cane than 
we did once, because we now manufacture so much sugar 
from beets. You have doubtless heard your mother say that 
cane sugar was better for some purposes. Because of a dif¬ 
ference in the two kinds of sugar, we shall depend more or 
less upon the sugar plantations of the Hawaiian Islands and 
those of Cuba for our sugar. 

Rice is a food upon which more people depend than upon 
the coconut, for it grows equally well upon the hot lowlands 
of the equator or upon the mountains of the hot belt, up to a 



Hulling rice by means of pestles lifted by water power. 






168 


THE WORLD 


height of 6000 feet. It thrives in the warm, temperate belt 
in which California lies, because there is an abundance of 
water and a hot summer long enough for the rice to mature, 
without danger of frost. 

The map of the world’s rice farmers is a very interest¬ 
ing one. Rice is a tropical plant and we ought to find the 
lowlands of this belt inhabited- by rice farmers around the 
whole world. But, strange to say, there is no rice grown in 
tropical Africa, and but little in South America, while the 
largest rice fields of Europe are in the Valley of the Po river, 
in northern Italy. 

The lands where people depend largely upon rice are 
mostly in southeastern Asia and the East Indies, including 
China, Japan, Philippine Islands and India. 

The vast lowlands of the Amazon river and the Kongo 
river, with their hot, moist climate, are inhabited largely by 
savages who do little farming of any kind, depending upon 
hunting and fishing and what grows wild in the jungles. The 
rice eating people of Asia are more or less civilized. Some 
of them, such as the Chinese, recently thought they were more 
civilized than we are. The Island of Java, inhabited by a 
partly civilized farming people, raises a great deal of rice, 
while the natives of Sumatra and Borneo, lying near by, pro¬ 
duce almost no rice, as the most of them are savage. 

In lands where wheat or millet is the main crop, the 
farmers sometimes suffer from famine because of the fail¬ 
ure of the crop, but the crop of the rice farmer never fails, 
because rice is grown only where there is an abundance of 
water to flood the fields. 

If we traveled around the world, following a line near 
30 degrees north latitude, we would have to the north of us 
all the beet sugar growers, while to the south would be all 
the growers of sugar cane. We would discover another very 
interesting thing, and that is that the people of the two very 
large islands, Cuba and Java, grow about half the sugar cane 
of the whole world. The country that grows the most is 
India. Our cane sugar comes from the Hawaiian Islands, for 
we are their nearest market. 

Wherever sugar cane grows, we may be certain that the 
climate is warm and wet and the soil very rich. Sugar cane 
loves the rich delta lands, as we see in the United States, in 


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169 

Egypt and in India. Find out what these deltas are from 
the map. 

The people of the hot lands who raise sugar cane do not 
eat a great deal of sugar; they sell the most of it to people 
of temperate lands, who often, as in our country, eat more 
than is g'ood for them. How the children as well as grown 
people love sugar, we can see in the markets of tropical coun¬ 
tries where sugar cane is raised. The cane is cut up into 
short pieces and is sold in the markets as we sell candy. It 
is interesting to see little children going around sucking pieces 
of sugar cane. 

TEA, COFFEE AND CACAO, THREE PRODUCTS OF HOT, 
MOIST LANDS, OF WHICH WE USE A GREAT DEAL, 
THOUGH ONLY THE LAST MENTIONED HAS ANY 
REAL FOOD VALUE. ARE THE PEOPLE WHO RAISE 
THESE PRODUCTS AS FOND OF THEM AS WE ARE? 

When tea is mentioned, do we not think of the Chinese 
and their beautiful porcelain cups, out of which they are al¬ 
ways drinking tea? When coffee is mentioned, do we not 
think of the Turk, who, sitting cross-legged on a rug, loves 
to treat his guests to a cup of black coffee? When cacao is 
mentioned, we think of the meaning of the group of trees to 



Hauling sugar cane to mill in Mexico. 






170 


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which the cacao tree belongs. This is a Greek word meaning 
'‘food for the Gods”, because of the delicious and nourishing 
substance, cacao, which they supply us. 

Why do the natives of China, where the tea plant orig¬ 
inated, think so much of this beverage, which has really no 
food value, and why, as soon as the English tasted it, did they 
organize the line of sailing vessels called the "China Clipper 
Service” to bring fresh tea as quickly as possible to England? 
We are sure that one of the reasons for drinking tea is that 
it is pleasant and stimulating. If you would travel in China 
I am sure that you would agree that another reason for tea 
being used by everybody in that great land is that the water 
in almost every part is unfit to drink without being boiled. 

The most thickly settled part of China is a vast lowland 
across which the rivers flow slowly. Between the rivers, the 
country is cut up by thousands of canals, in which the cur¬ 
rent is still less. The waters in these canals becomes very 
dirty and totally unfit for drinking without boiling. The ad¬ 
dition of a few tea leaves to a cup of boiling water make a 
pleasant, stimulating drink which entirely takes the place 
of water. 

If we look at the map of Asia, we shall find that three 
countries, China, Japan and India, including the Island of 



Checking up the tea pick in Japan. 







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171 


Ceylon, produce most of the tea, while the three countries that 
buy the most are England, the United States and Russia. We, 
of course, get our tea by water, but Russia gets the most of 
her tea. by slow camel caravans across the deserts of Cen¬ 
tral Asia. 

Tea is light but bulky, and in order that the camels may 
be able to carry a real load, the leaves are compressed into 
little bricks by a machine made especially for the purpose. 
These bricks are heavy and almost as hard as stone. When 
a Russian wishes to make a cup of tea, he takes a hammer 
and breaks off a piece from one of the bricks and puts it in 
the samovar, which is always kept boiling. 

The tea plant is not very particular where it grows, for 
it is found in Japan in a warm, temperate latitude, and in Java 
and Ceylon almost under the equator. It also grows on the 
lowlands and upon the slopes of the Himalaya mountains, up 
to a height of 6000 feet. 

The tea plant is, however, very particular about some 
matters; it must have a damp climate and cannot stand any 
frost. This makes it impossible for us to ever grow tea suc¬ 
cessfully in California. Another reason why we could never 
make money growing tea, even if the climate permitted us to 



It rains so much in Ceylon that the native carts are covered with 

huge hoods to keep the loads dry. 






172 


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do so, is that in the countries of southeastern Asia the people 
work for very little. The women and children, as well as 
the men, take their baskets into the tea plantations and gather 
the leaves by hand. 

When we turn our thoughts to Turkey and the Turk, in 
his baggy trousers, red fez and slippers, sitting cross-legged 
sipping coffee, we are near the first known home of the coffee 
plant or tree. The Turk gets his coffee from Mocha, or there¬ 
abouts, in southern Arabia. The Arabians got their plants 
in the first place from Abyssiania, a country in Africa, across 
the Red sea. Here at a height of 6000 feet the coffee plant 
was first grown. 

When the Europeans discovered the coffee of Arabia, 
with its fine flavor and its stimulating properties, they hast¬ 
ened to get plants to take with them to their possessions in 
tropical America and the East Indies in order that they might 
have all they wanted. 

The coffee plant was found to grow upon all well drained 
lands, up to a height of more than a mile, but never above 
the frost line. The coffee plant is not as particular as the tea 
plant about having a moist air, and is satisfied in a very dry 
climate, like that of Arabia, if it can be well irrigated. 

Highlands with a rich soil, free from frost and with an 



Coffee pickers at Sao Paulo, Brazil, 



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173 


abundance of rain, lie just back of the steep coast mountains 
of southern Brazil. Coffee plants were set out here and found 
to thrive so well that now this region produces three-fourths 
of all the coffee of the world. 

If there is a city in the whole world that is noted for a 
particular thing, it is Santos, the seaport for the Brazilian 
coffee plantations. As you land from the steamer and enter 
the city, you see and smell coffee on every hand. The drays 
on the streets are carrying bags of coffee; the cars at the sta¬ 
tion are loaded with it. At the docks you will see at any time, 
day or night, the stevedores carrying bags of coffee up the 
gang planks of the steamers. 

To reach the coffee plantations, we climb by means of a 
finely built railroad up the steep coast slope of the highlands, 
densely covered with a rich tropical vegetation. Reaching the 
top of the plateau-like upland, which is between 2000 and 
3000 feet above the sea, we find ourselves in a cooler and drier 
climate. Because of the less rainfall of the plateau the veg¬ 
etation is not very heavy. This makes possible the clearing 
of large areas at a moderate cost, in order to give room for 
the coffee trees. If this highland had the dense vegetation of 
the Amazon valley, even though its soil and climate were in 



Mexicans working in the fields of the great valley at the 

foot of Mt f Popocatpetk 



174 


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every way favorable, the plateau would never have become the 
rich and flourishing district that it is. 

In Java, China or the Philippines, each family has ita 
plat of rice, which it tends, selling the spare product. The 
rice crop is a certain one and the family depends upon it for 
its main food supply. There are many risks to be taken in 
the growing of coffee, and some years the crop is so light that 
people of small means cannot carry on the industry. Because 
of this, coffee is grown upon great plantations covering thou¬ 
sands of acres, each plantation being owned by a wealthy man 
or by a company. 

Coffee growing regions are healthful ones in which to 
live. Coffee thrives best in the warm belt between the hot, 
wet belt of sugar cane, rubber and bananas, and the orange 
or semi-tropical belt. 

Cacao, the “food of the Gods”, interests us, or ought to 
at least, more than tea or coffee, for it is a nourishing food 
as well as a drink. It can also be enjoyed by children, for it 
is not harmful to them as is tea or coffee. 

If we want to find the natural home of the cacao tree, we 
must go to the lowlands of the tropics in Central and South 
America. The wild cacao forests are especially important 
upon the coastal lowlands of Ecuador and upon the head¬ 
waters of the Amazon river, on the opposite side of the Andes 
mountains. 

Cacao was known to the Aztec Indians of Mexico at the 
time Cortez conquered the country. Montezuma, the Emperor, 
is said to have been very fond of cacoa, drinking large quan¬ 
tities daily, as did his household. 

While there are great numbers of cacao trees in the more 
inaccessible of the tropical forests of South America, yet the 
most of the cacao beans shipped out of South America now 
come from plantations. The trees are cared for much in the 
same manner as those of coffee and rubber plantations. Ne¬ 
groes and Indians do the most of the work and live almost 
like slaves. 

The cacao beans are shipped in bags to Europe and the 
United States, where the various preparations of chocolate and 
cocoa are made from them. The oil of the nut is made into 
cocoa butter. 


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175 


ARE NOT THE MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES WHICH WE GET 
FROM OTHER LANDS OF MORE REAL VALUE THAN 
THE FOODS ABOUT WHICH WE HAVE BEEN STUDY¬ 
ING? 


Our trade with foreign lands in substances which are 
valuable in medicine is a very important one, and were it stop¬ 
ped, we would suffer more than if foreign food supplies were 
cut off. 

Opium is obtained from the poppy plant, which is pro¬ 
duced mostly in India and China, although it will grow in 
southern Europe and the southern United States. The doc¬ 
tor could hardly get along without the various preparations 
of opium, but when this drug is used to excess it is very 
harmful. Opium smoking has become a habit among the Chi¬ 
nese and other people of southeastern Asia. It is against the 
law to have opium in one’s possession. The substance is so 
valuable, however, that men take all kinds of chances in try¬ 
ing to smuggle it past the Customs’ officers. 

The fertile plains of India and China are so dreadfully 
crowded with people that it is all they can do in favorable 
years to raise enough food to eat. The growing of the poppy, 
while it brings them money, uses land that should be given to 
producing food. The Chinese government is making a great 
effort to shut opium out of the country and to stop the grow¬ 


ing of the poppy. 

Quinine has become so important in our lives that we 
could not do without it. Before it was known that malaiia, 
or “chills and fever”, as the disease was called by early set¬ 
tlers, was caused by the bite of a mosquito, the only thing 
which made the lives of the early settlers upon marshy river 
bottoms bearable, was quinine. Quinine is the best friend of 
the white traveler in tropical jungles, for by taking large quan¬ 
tities he is usually able to escape the fevers, which w ithout it 

would be likely to kill him. 

The cinchona tree is found in the forests of South Amei 
ica from Bolivia northward. Unlike some of the other trop- 
ical trees which we have been studying, the cinchona will grow 
in a great range of climate. It is found between 3000 and 
8000 "feet elevation on the Andes mountains; that is, its vei- 

tical range is about a mile. 

The cinchona, which is a beautiful tree, grows to a large 
size, but it is so hidden away in the tropical forests that it is 


176 


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difficult to find. It is necessary to employ the Indians to find 
the trees and to strip the bark. So valuable is the bark that 
those in search of the trees have had to go farther and far¬ 
ther into the forest jungles until there arose a fear of the 
supply of quinine giving out. The efifort was then made to 
cultivate the tree on plantations. This has been successful, 
and the young trees carried to other tropical regions are thriv¬ 
ing. Great numbers of trees are now growing in India and 
Java. The Spaniards of the South American countries, of 
which the tree is a native, have been too indolent to encour¬ 
age this valuable industry as they ought to. 

The wonderful virtues of the bark of the cinchona tree 
were known to the Inca Indians of the Andes, and the early 
Spanish explorers learned about it from them. 

We must not confuse cocaine with cacao or “cocoa”, as 
it is called upon the cans in which we buy it. Cocaine is a 
preparation used in medicine and is made from the leaves of 
the coca plant. This also is a native of the tropical regions 
of the Andes mountains. 

When the Indians of the Andes engage in a difficult piece 
of work, or go upon long journeys, they eat very little but 
take with them leaves of the coca plant, which they chew con¬ 
tinuously. These leaves were used by the Indians long before 
the Spaniards came, and are still used. The effect of chew¬ 
ing the leaves is almost magical, for it enables them to keep 
up their strength without eating. There are parts of this 
region where food is difficult to get, and chewing the leaves 
tides over the lack until they can again find something to eat. 
Coca helps the Indians in somewhat the same way as opium 
does the Turk, the betelnut does the Malays of the East Indies, 
and tobacco the American. 

Another product of the hot lands of southeastern Asia is 
camphor, which is used not only in medicines but in many 
industries, as, for example, in making celluloid and explosives. 
The wood of the camphor tree makes very handsome cabinet 
work and resembles cedar. It is especially useful in making 
chests in which articles which we wish to keep from moths 
are to be stored. 

Camphor was formerly obtained by chopping down the 
trees and cutting the wood into fine chips, and then heating 
it, which drove out the camphor. Now the trees are saved 
and the leaves and small branches used. 


THE WORLD 


177 


The camphor tree, with its glossy leaves, is very beau¬ 
tiful and grows to a great height. It is found in the wet for¬ 
ests along the borders of the tropics and in the warmer parts 
of the temperate belt. The most extensive camphor wood for¬ 
ests are upon the Island of Formosa, lying to the east of China. 

A visit to the market places in Burma, where the skilled 
workmen are making camphor wood chests, is very interest¬ 
ing. Here the oddly dressed men are making by hand all the 
delicate and careful fittings, which in our country are usu¬ 
ally made by machinery. The chests are mounted with brass 
fittings like the cedar chests which appear in our shop win¬ 
dows before Christmas. 


178 


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CHAPTER 24. 

TO WHAT EXTENT ARE WE DEPENDENT UPON THE 
PEOPLE OF OTHER LANDS FOR THE MATERIALS OF 
OUR CLOTHING? WE GROW COTTON; WE PRODUCE 
WOOL; WE RAISE CATTLE AND MAKE LEATHER, AND 
THERE ARE FUR-BEARING ANIMALS IN OUR NORTH¬ 
ERN WOODS. WE MIGHT RAISE SILK WORMS AND 
MAKE SILK, AND WE MIGHT GROW FLAX AND MAKE 
LINEN, IF WE WISHED TO DO SO. 

We could produce in California all the materials for the 
clothing we wear, but it does not pay us to do so. We can 
make the most of our California home if we give our atten¬ 
tion to producing those things that we can either raise or man¬ 
ufacture cheaper and better than other people can. If people 
in some parts of the world have the skill and taste to weave 
more beautiful rugs than we do, would we not be wise to buy 
our rugs from them and devote our time to doing those things 
that we excel in? 

Each region of the world has its own climate and soil in 
which certain plants thrive better than anywhere else. Plants 
from other climates may grow there if carefully nursed; still 
others will not grow at all. We have brought the banana 
plant from the tropics into southern California. It will grow 
but will not bear fruit. The pineapple we cannot grow at all. 

There is still another reason why it is not best for us 
to try to do everything in California. In many parts of the 
world people will work for from twenty-five to fifty cents a 
day. We cannot hire people for much less than three or four 
dollars a day. We help ourselves and these people also by 
exchanging goods with them. 

If people in different parts of the world get into the habit 
of buying from each other, better and faster ships are built. 
They become acquainted with each other and are less likely 
to quarrel. 

Let us begin our talk about clothing materials with Wool. 
California raises a great many sheep, but not enough to sup¬ 
ply us with all the wool we need. This is because it is more 


THE WORLD 


179 

profitable to use the gieater part of the land on which sheep 
might be pastured for other purposes. Because of the climate, 
because of railroad transportation and markets, we can make 
moie money and our State will support more people if we use 
the land for growing fruit than if we let it lie idle and merely 
pasture it. There are not as many sheep and cattle raised 
on the open ranges as there were once, because the land is 
being supplied with water for irrigation and is being cut up 
into little farms, each of which will support a small family 
if properly tilled. 

The 1 ailroads make it possible for our Western farmers 
and fruit growers to send their products to market, but there 
are just as rich lands in other parts of the world which are 
used only as pasture lands, because either the climate is too 
dry or there is lack of water for irrigation, or it is too cold, 
or it is too far from market to make those lands valuable for 
any other purpose. Sheep will browse and keep in good con¬ 
dition where there is not enough grass and water for cattle. 
They will also thrive in a colder climate. In those regions 
where there is no market for meat products, more money can 
be made by raising sheep merely for their wool than in rais¬ 
ing cattle for their hides. We do not have to kill the sheep to 
get the wool, while we do the cattle to get their hides. 

In what parts of the world shall we look for the great 
grass lands that are better suited for raising sheep than for 
either cattle or farming? In North America both sheep and 
cattle are raised in the same region, because of railroads for 
transportation to market. Our study of the United States 
has shown us differences in rainfall that make prairies of cer¬ 
tain regions and produce forests in others. The tundras of 
the far north, with their stunted bushes and mosses, do not 
result from lack of rain but from the extreme cold. 



A train of wagons loaded with wood in New South Wales. 
















180 


THE WORLD 


What can we say about sheep raising in Europe? The 
most of Europe has abundant rains and must have great areas 
of good sheep pasture, but the people are so closely crowded 
that it requires all the land that can be cultivated to grow food 
for them. After looking at the map of Europe and seeing 
how mountainous it is, we come to the conclusion that after 
all there is a great deal of land that is too cold and rocky for 
cultivation and that the best use of this land is for pasture. 

Sheep are pastured on all the high mountains of south¬ 
ern Europe. In places there are cattle, but sheep are more 
easily kept. Many sheep are raised in the British Isles, be¬ 
cause most of the surface is rather too wet for farming. Many 
sheep are raised in Spain because it is too dry for farming. 
Many sheep are raised in the mountains of the Balkan penin¬ 
sula because it is cold and barren and the inhabitants want all 
the wool they can get for their own clothing. 

But taking into account all the sheep that are raised in 
Europe, there are so many people there who need their wool 
that there is none for export. Europe and North America do 
not, then, produce enough wool for their own people and must 
look to other continents for what they lack. 

Where shall we look for the lands that are thinly peo¬ 
pled; that are far from markets and that contain extensive 
grass lands? In order to find the answer to this question, we 
must bear in mind what we have already learned about moun¬ 
tain ranges cutting off damp ocean winds, leaving the coun¬ 
try behind them dry. Mention examples of this from Cali¬ 
fornia. We must also bear in mind that plateaus between 
mountain ranges are not only dry, but also so cold that little 
will grow upon them besides bushes and grass. Give exam¬ 
ples from the Western United States. Regions that are so 
far north or so far south that they are too cold for profitable 
farming may be used for grazing sheep. And one more thing, 
and that is that a belt of dry and often desert land extends 
around the earth upon each side of the equator between the 
westerly wind belt and the trade wind belt. These belts where 
not too dry support grasses favorable to pasturage. Exam¬ 
ples of such belts are California and the region about the 
Mediterranean sea. 

The vast interior plain of Argentine, in South America, 
receives little rain because the westerly storm winds are cut 
off by the high Andes mountains. This makes much of the 


THE WORLD 


181 


countiy too dry for farming', but there is sufficient moisture 
to support a growth of coarse grasses, enough for sheep. This 
has become one of the great sheep raising and wool ship¬ 
ping regions of the world. Railroads have been built out into 
the sheep country from Buenos Aires to take the wool to the 
ships that carry it to Europe and the United States. 

The plains and mountain valleys of the extreme south¬ 
ern end of South America were once thought to be barren 
and worthless. They are wet and cold, being a sort of tundra 
with low shrubs, grass and moss. The scattered Indians of 
this region had a hard struggle to make a living before the 
sheep men came and drove their herds over it. Now the game 
that the Indians depended upon is gone, and the Indians, be¬ 
ing unable to live without it, are going also. The region has 
been made a vast sheep ranch. The wool is shipped from 
Punta Arena, the most southerly city in the world, and goes 
mainly to England. 

The only large continents remaining that we have not 
explored for sheep and wool are Africa and Asia. There 
ought to be a belt of grass land between the Sahara desert 
and the tropical jungles of Central Africa. In fact, we are 
sure there must be, for it is from this region that the great 
herbivorous or grass eating animals come that we see in men¬ 
ageries. Among these animals are the elephant, giraffe, zebra, 
gazelle, ox, etc. Why is it that no sheep are kept here? The 
region is inhabited by uncivilized negroes who support them¬ 
selves mostly by hunting. Some of them have small gardens 
in which they raise vegetables and melons, but they have no 
domestic animals. 

We have learned that South Africa has a climate like 
that of California. Why might we not get wool from there? 
The plateau lying back of the orange belt of Cape Town is 
inhabited by Boer farmers, who long ago settled the region. 
Among other products they raise a great many cattle and 
sheep, but none of their products ever reach the United States 
because the region is a colony of England and she wants all 
the wool and leather she can get. 

What about Asia as a source of wool for our mills? The 
most of the inhabitants live upon the southern and eastern 
coast lowlands and are so crowded that every foot of the 
land must be used to keep them alive. There is little room 
for sheep and cattle. 


182 


THE WORLD 


The vast interior of Asia, you will see from the map, is 
just the opposite of North America, for it is mostly a table¬ 
land so high and so cold that there are very few inhabitants. 
If, in a few places, they keep sheep they want all the wool for 
their own clothing. The people of Western Asia raise sheep 
and use a part of their wool for weaving the beautiful rugs 
that we get from there. Out of what wool is left they make 
their own clothing. 

We now come to the small and distant continent of Aus¬ 
tralia. Although it looks so small upon the map, yet it is really 
large enough to support a great many sheep, if there are pas¬ 
tures for them that are not suitable for other purposes. 

The map shows us that the northern part of Australia lies 
in the tropics and therefore must be covered with forests and 
unsuited to farming or grazing. It also shows a high moun¬ 
tain range lying along the eastern side. The extreme south¬ 
ern part we have already learned has a Mediterranean climate, 
with its orange and lemon groves. 

It is the eastern mountain range that makes of Australia 
a great sheep country. This range cuts off the southeast trade 
winds which would, were it not for these mountains, bring rain 
to all the central part. As a result, the region behind these 
mountains has little rain, and this little becomes smaller still 
the farther we go inland, until at last we reach the great 
central desert. 

This is a vast area called the “Bush", where there is not 
enough rain for farming and no streams to supply water for 
irrigation, but there is sufficient to make a scrubby growth 
of bushes and tough grasses. This region has been taken pos¬ 
session of by the sheep men who have developed so great a 
business that Australia is more widely known for its wool than 
anything else. A part of this wool comes to the woolen mills 
of the United States by way of California, and a part goes 
to England. 

While we are in Australia, we might go a little farther 
to the Island of New Zealand, where there are so many great 
sheep ranches. New Zealand is a beautiful and fruitful land, 
but it is so far from markets for farm produce that stock rais¬ 
ing has become the chief industry. 

These journeys over the world in search of the places 
where our wool is grown have shown us also why the people 
of some countries wear little woolen clothing, but use cotton 


THE WORLD 


183 


in its stead. Wool usually costs more than cotton and is 
harder to get in countries where few sheep are kept. Wool 
is too warm for the natives of the tropics to wear, and be¬ 
sides this most of these people are uncivilized and have little 
use for clothing of any kind. Their home is also mostly for¬ 
ested and it is all they can do to keep little patches cleared, 
because of the quick growth of wild vegetation. 

The Chinese wear little wool, though in north China the 
winters are very cold. They succeed in keeping warm in cot¬ 
ton clothing by padding their garments and thus making them 
thick and heavy. The little children are dressed in their pad¬ 
ded clothing in the fall and this is not taken off until the warm 
weather comes in the spring. 

The Chinese are usually too poor and have to struggle 
too hard for a living to buy woolen clothes. They do not raise 
many sheep or other animals, except in the far northern part, 
because they cannot afford the land to grow forage for them. 
Thus the Chinese have learned to carry their own loads in¬ 
stead of using beasts of burden. By means of a pole across 
their shoulders, they carry enormous loads long distances. In 



Originally wooded; settled, cleared and ruined since 1725, Fou-ping, 

Chili Province, China. 








184 


THE WORLD 


some parts of China they use huge wheelbarrows for carry¬ 
ing goods. 

Wherever we go over the earth, we discover that moun¬ 
tain people, if their slopes are not too heavily forested, keep 
sheeps and goats. Winters in the mountains are cold and the 
surface too rocky to be used for any other purpose than as 
pastures for sheep, goats and cattle. 

Our journeys have shown us also that desert people, or 
those living on the border of the desert, keep enough sheep 
to supply themselves with wool, but none to sell unless when 
it is woven into rugs. In addition to sheep, these people keep 
goats, horses and camels. Since forage is scanty they have 
to live in tents and keep moving from one place to another. 
Parts of the Sahara desert, parts of Arabia, the region about 
the Caspian sea, in Russia and Siberia; and parts of Persia 
support these wandering people. Wherever the rainfall is a 
little greater, or there is water for irrigating little patches of 
ground, the desert people build permanent homes of clay or 
stone and live in one place. 

In the western parts of our own country it has been the 
custom for many years for herders to go out into the desert 
or mountains with bands of sheep, camping and living with 
them for months. Bands of sheep once ranged up the slopes 
of the Sierra Nevada and other lofty mountains in California. 
They kept climbing to higher pastures as summer advanced 
and not until late in the season did they reach the upper mead¬ 
ows where the grass was short but nourishing. The sheep, 
however, did so much harm to the grass and young trees, the 
roots of which held the soil, that water from the rains and 
melting snows ran off faster. This lessened the summer flow 
of the springs so that the farmers in the valleys began to suf¬ 
fer. The pasturing of sheep, as well as cattle, in the moun¬ 
tains of California is now very carefully regulated. 

Cotton comes next after wool as the most important ma¬ 
terial of our clothing. Perhaps some of us may think cotton 
is more important for us than wool. It certainly is for people 
in some parts of the world. The cotton belt of our Southern 
States produces more than half the cotton of the world. The 
people of the United States do not need to go out of their own 
country for their raw cotton, or for their cotton cloth, since 
in New England are so many cotton factories that they not 
only make all the cloth we use but send it to all parts of the 


THE WORLD 


185 


world, unless it be England, where a great deal of cotton 
cloth is made. 

It has recently been discovered that the hot valleys of 
California and the adjacent parts of Arizona grow as fine 
cotton as is to be obtained anywhere. The Great Valley may, 
in addition to its fruit of every description, its rice, alfalfa and 
gram fields, become also a great cotton field. At present the 
most of California cotton is grown in the Imperial Valley. 
We do not as yet grow all the cotton we use in California! 
but if you could travel over the vast fertile delta of the Colo¬ 
rado river and see the miles of vacant land that might be 
turned into cotton fields, as well as the great fields that are 
already there, you will say that all the cotton used in Califor¬ 
nia will be grown here, as well as much for export. 

Cotton thrives in a wide belt running all the way around 
the world. It must have a hot summer without danger of 
frosts. The plant does not seem to care whether the climate 
is moist like that of our Southern States or dry enough to 
make irrigation necessary. If we went to Egypt we could see 
many cotton fields. In India we would see them also, but in 
many other countries where the climate is suitable for cotton 
very little is raised. 

Your mother takes great pride in her linen tablecloths, 
napkins and handkerchiefs, but she finds that they cost a great 
deal. Why is it that linen costs so much since flax, from the 
fiber of which it is prepared, can be grown over a large area 
in the upper Mississippi valley? 

Flax supplies us with two important products—one is the 
fiber which is made into linen; the other is an oil called lin¬ 
seed oil. This is used in mixing paints and in making oil 
cake valuable for feeding cattle. Much flax is grown in the 
Mississippi Valley, but only for the oil it contains. The sep¬ 
arating of the fiber from the rest of the material of the stem 
has to be done by hand, and as we have to pay workmen so 
much more in our country than they get in other parts of the 
world, it does not pay us to prepare the fiber for weaving. 

Flax is grown in many parts of the world that have a 
climate somewhat like the upper Mississippi valley and where 
the women and children as well as the men work in the fields. 
A great deal is grown in Russia and the countries of Central 
Europe, India in Asia, and Argentine in South America also 
grow much flax. If we want to visit the country where most 



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of the flax fiber is shipped to be woven into linen, I am sure 
you can tell us where to go, for everyone has heard of ‘‘Irish 
linen”. 

THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT CATTLE REGIONS OF THE 
WORLD ARE: THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE, INDIA 
AND SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA. WHY IS IT THAT 
FROM INDIA, THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL, WE GET 
NO HIDES FOR OUR BOOTS AND SHOES? 

It is very interesting to hunt out those parts of the world 
in which cattle are raised in large numbers and where we 
would likely be able to buy hides for our factories to make into 
boots and shoes. We should, however, before starting upon 
our travels find out from what we know of the habits of cat¬ 
tle and what they feed upon and in what parts we are most 
likely to find them in large numbers. 

We know, to start with, that cattle cannot be profitably 
raised in large numbers in a country covered with dense for¬ 
ests, for while they browse on bushes to some extent, their 
chief food is grass. Cattle do not thrive in desert or half¬ 
desert regions where sheep are often found, for cattle require 
more water than sheep and are more particular about what 



The grassy slopes of the high alps are dotted with cows during the 
short summers. During the most of the year snow 

covers everything. 








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187 


they eat. Regions with a cold, damp climate, such as the ex¬ 
treme southern part of South America and Scotland, are bet- 
tei adapted to sheep than to most cattle, although there are 
some breeds that have become used to such climates. 

W e should learn also before starting out to buy hides 
what people raise cattle for in different parts of the world. 
Are they raised for milk, butter and cheese ? Are they raised 
chiefly for meat products, or are they raised for their hides 
and tallow? We know from our study of California that cat¬ 
tle in different regions are raised for different purposes. The 
cattle upon the plateau in the northeastern corner of our State 
are raised chiefly for their meat products. 

Large herds of cattle are kept about our cities for dairy 
purposes. The city people must have their milk and cream 
every morning. Other dairies are scattered throughout the 
large valleys and the milk made into butter and cheese. 

We raise range cattle because there is a great deal of 
land scattered throughout the mountainous parts of Califor¬ 
nia that can be used for no other purpose but pasturing cat¬ 
tle or sheep. To keep beef cattle confined in yards and feed 
them alfalfa or grain hay would make them cost too much. 

Now let us turn to Europe and see what we can learn 
about its cattle, since this is one of the four important cattle 
raising regions. 

The cattle map of Europe shows that they are most nu¬ 
merous in the western part, in the region where people are 
also most numerous. Does not this mean that these cattle 
are raised especially for their milk and the butter and cheese 
made from it? They are not raised especially for beef, al¬ 
though many are used in that way. 

Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland and the 
northern part of Italy and the northwestern part of France 
have the most cattle. There are many cattle raised in South¬ 
ern Europe, but the people drink very little cow’s milk, using 
goat’s milk instead. In this land of summer drought that 
we have already been studying, the lack of rain does not favoi 
green pastures during the dry season. Goats make a living 

and give milk where cows could not. 

Cattle are kept throughout Russia, but there are almost 
no milch cows in the southeastern part. Russian people, as 
a rule, go without milk. Does not the fact that there are few 
milch cows in the region about the Caspian sea tell us some 


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thing about the lives and habits of the people living there? 
If they have cattle and yet do not milk any cows, we must 
come to the conclusion that they are nomads—that is, they 
wander from place to place with their cattle, sheep and horses 
in search of pasturage, because the climate is too dry for them 
to raise crops. Southeastern Russia is then a pasture land, 
or “steppe”, and similar to the dry plains in our own coun¬ 
try where the cattle used to range before the building of irri¬ 
gation ditches. If southeastern Russia is a vast pasture land, 
it cannot be thickly inhabited. 

Continuing eastward from southern Russia into Siberia, 
we find ourselves still among the nomads. Here are the Ker- 
ghiz living in tents and moving here and there in search of 
pasture. They use the skins of their sheep and cattle partly 
for clothing and partly to stretch over their rude dwellings. 

Ought we to look for many cattle in Africa? North 
Africa bordering the Mediterranean is, as we have already 
learned, much like southern Europe. The natives keep many 
goats and sheep. Central Africa is the home of the black men. 
They do not keep cattle, although the grass lands south of the 
Sahara desert would support domestic animals as well as they 
do the great number of wild ones. 

The Boers of the South African tableland keep cattle as 
well as sheep, for they are so far from market that it does not 
pay them to raise much else. It is not likely that any animal 
products from this region ever reach our country, for South 
Africa trades mostly with England. 

We have learned something of the sheep ranges of south¬ 
eastern Australia and of the dry country in which they are 
situated. Between the sheep belt of the interior and the coast, 
where the trade winds bring abundant rains, is a belt that re¬ 
ceives more rain than the desert where the sheep are. In this 
belt are great numbers of cattle kept for their meat and for 
their hides. Sometimes beef is carried in refrigerators from 
Australia to San Francisco, and we may also get hides from 
there. The most of Australia’s products, however, go to the 
home country, England. 

South America calls us back to show us what it can do 
in the cattle line. It must be that it is here we get the most 
of the hides that are shipped into the United States for the 
making of boots and shoes. The part of the great Argentine 
plain lying next to the east base of the southern Andes moun- 



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189 


tains is, as we have already learned, very dry and suited to 
the raising of sheep. 

As we journey eastward from the sheep ranges we come 
upon a belt of country where the rainfall is greater. Here 
cattle are kept in vast numbers. They run free and are taken 
care of by the Gauchos, in the same manner that our cowboys 
look after the cattle. These plains are called Pampas and are 
very much like the Great Plains of the United States. 

The pampa is so level, it is easy to build railroads across 
it. These roads carry the cattle to Buenos Aires. Here they 
are butchered and the meat placed on refrigerator ships and 
sent to Europe. The most of the hides also go to Europe, 
though our boot and shoe makers in New England get a part 
of them. While on the road to Buenos Aires with the cattle, 
we finally pass out of the stock country and come to a part of 
the great plain where the rainfall is sufficient to support wheat 
and corn. Neither of these products go to our country be¬ 
cause of the immense quantities we raise ourselves. 

But the pampa is not the only place where cattle are 
raised in South America. Across the mouth of the Plata river 
from Argentine are the little countries of Paraguay and Uru¬ 
guay, whose inhabitants are mostly mixed negro, Indian, Por¬ 
tuguese and Spanish. They do not like hard work and so raise 
immense numbers of cattle upon land which, if cultivated, 
would return much more to the owners, since it is extremely 
fertile and the climate suited to every semi-tropical product. 

Northern South America I am sure you will say is very 
wet because it lies within the belt of tropical rains. As a re¬ 
sult of the heavy rains and great heat, might we not expect it 
to be covered with a dense forest jungle? In reaching this con¬ 
clusion, we forget the mountains that are present and the influ¬ 
ence which they have upon both temperature and rainfall. 

The Orinoco is a great river, as you may see from the 
map. It flows into the Atlantic ocean through a broad valley 
bordered by lofty mountains. During the summer when the 
sun is overhead, in the Orinoco valley are almost constant 
rains. The valley, which is in places more than one hundred 
miles wide, becomes covered with a great sheet of water. 

During the winter season, when the sun is farther south, 
the trade wind belt covers the region and the winds bring 
some rain from the ocean. But the mountains lying partly 
across the lower end of the valley cut off much of the moist- 


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ure. The valley is then quite dry for some months in the win¬ 
ter season, so that grass takes the place of the forests which 
would otherwise be found there. 

Few settlers have made their way into this region, for the 
river as it approaches the ocean splits up into many mouths, 
making navigation difficult. The settlers are mostly Spanish 
and Indians, who, on account of the summer floods, find it 
necessary to build their homes upon piles or place them many 
miles back from the river on high ground. 

Many thousands of cattle are kept upon the grassy plains 
or Llanos, in addition to horses and mules. Very little use 
is made of the cattle because of the difficulty of shipping them 
out. Live cattle are sent down the river to supply the towns 
on the coast with meat. Nothing, unless it be hides, is ship¬ 
ped away to help make the world’s shoes. 

We come now to India, that country which contains the 
largest number of cattle of any in the world, but from which, 
strange to say, we get no hides for our boots and shoes. The 
hides are not shipped to Europe, nor do the people themselves 
make any use of the leather. India is a hot, tropical land 
where the people are very poor and crowded and often go 
without nourishing food. They generally go barefooted, al¬ 
though those who are able to do so wear some sort of slippers. 

What use do the Hindus make of their cattle? They do 

not kill them for 
meat, for it is not 
only against their 
religion to kill ani¬ 
mals, but they are 
also firbidden to 
eat meat. If you 
will take a journey 
through India you 
will soon discover 
what use is made 
of the cattle. They 
take the place of 

„ , horses in pulling 

Train of llamas in the Peruvian highlands. > 9 

(The llama was the only beast of burden theU CartS and 
in America before the coming of wagons, in plow- 

the Spaniards). ing and tilling the 






THE WORLD 


191 


ground and for every purpose for which we use horses, ex- 
cept for riding. 

The cattle are hump-backed and very different in appear¬ 
ance from ours. The natives do not milk them, nor do they 
use milk from any animal. Certain ones among the cattle are 
considered sacred in connection with their religion. These 
are allowed to wander through the streets and temples at pleas¬ 
ure. Sometimes we see the sacred cows with wreaths of flow¬ 
ers hung upon their horns. The sacred animals are also al¬ 
lowed to go into the markets and eat vegetables from the 
stands. Although the keepers of the stands are poor, yet it 
is considered a good omen for a sacred cow to eat at their 
stands, and they do not drive it away. 

Among the strangest sights of India are the wagons and 
carts used. A pair of white hump-backed cows hitched to a 
wagon, with a canopy over it, makes an interesting picture. 
When the Mohammedan women go out riding the curtains of 
the canopy are kept down so that no one can see them. 

In addition to the common cattle, there are water buffalo 
or caribou. These animals are used to do the heavy work. 
The cattle are all very gentle and easily handled. 

We have now followed cattle over the whole world, in 
our search for hides, and found only a few regions from which 



Bullock carts, thatched with palm leaves and drawn by cream- 

colored zebu cattle, India. 









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we get any for use in our country. Cattle are kept by almost 
all people except savages, and in every place except in the dense 
forests and in the cold northlands. 

Tanning of the hides as they come to our country, to 
make leather of different kinds, is a very important industry. 
The bark of different trees, especially of certain kinds of oak, 
is used in tanning. In California we have the tanbark oak, 
which grows upon the damp northern coast. Tanneries are 
built at convenient points for obtaining hides as well as the 

bark. The best sit¬ 
uated region for 
tanneries in our 
State is about San 
Francisco Bay. 

Other materials 
than leather are 
used in making 
boots and shoes, 
the chief of which 
is rubber. The sub¬ 
stance is now used 
for so many pur¬ 
poses that we will 
now try to find out 
something about 
where it is obtained. 


A water carrier of India. The gentleness of the 
cattle of India is remarkable. They are 
used for all sorts of purposes and 
never make any complaint. 


The name “Indian rubber” was given to an elastic sub¬ 
stance seen in the hands of the Indians soon after the dis¬ 
covery of South America, because it had the property of re¬ 
moving pencil marks. There are many different kinds of trees 
and vines in the tropical forests all over the world which have 


a milky juice that turns to a solid elastic substance upon dry¬ 
ing. The best rubber trees are natives of South America. In 
the Amazon valley is one in particular which produces what 
is known as “Para rubber” that is superior to any other. 

Of all the products of the tropics that we use in large 
quantities, rubber comes from regions which have a climate 
most difficult for white men to live and work in. The Para 
rubber is obtained from a tree which grows naturally only in 
the hot, wet and, we might almost say, steaming lowlands of 
the Amazon river and its tributaries. 

Because of the unhealthfulness of the climate as well as 








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193 


the gieat heat, the rubber gatherers in the Amazon valley are 
all Indians. The trackless forests are so dense that they have 
to almost hew their way through them in their search for the 
scattered rubber trees. Only the immediate lowlands have as 
yet been explored for rubber trees, and doubtless there are 
millions never yet seen by anyone. Rubber is now in such de¬ 
mand and the forests of South America so difficult to pene¬ 
trate that extensive rubber plantations have been made in the 
East Indies and these will doubtless be extended to Africa 
and all other tropical regions. Find out what you can about 
the preparation of rubber and its many uses. 

WE WEAVE SILK IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT WHERE 
DO WE GET THE RAW SILK? 

Cotton, wool and leather are three materials of our cloth¬ 
ing which we could not get along without. 

The United States produces so much of the first that it 
not only has enough for its own mills, but a large surplus to 
sell. It does not have enough of the second and third and we 
have just learned where we have to go to get what is lacking. 

Now we come to a material which we do not really need, 
and yet this material produces such soft, beautiful garments 
that we feel we cannot get along without it. I am sure that 
you will all guess that I am speaking of silk. 

Why do we not produce this material that we admire so 
much, and where do we have to go to satisfy our desires, are 
problems for our geography. 



This picture shows the balls of crude rubber as they come from the 
forest of the Amazon Valley in South America, and ready 
for shipment to the United States 













194 


THE WORLD 


First, we must repeat the story of how silk is made. This 
story will tell us in what part of the world to search for the 
home of silk. 

The tiny eggs, half the size of a pinhead, lying there upon 
a sheet of paper, will hatch by and by and little worms will 
emerge. If mulberry leaves are at hand they will crawl upon 
them and begin feeding. When the worms have grown to be 
two inches or more in length they stop feeding and weave 
about themselves a fine thread drawn out of a substance in 
their own bodies. This thread may, in the case of large worms, 
be as much as half a mile in length. Finally the worm is hid¬ 
den, stops its work and becomes a chrysalis. From this chrys¬ 
alis conies finally a little moth which lays the eggs with which 
we began. 

Some time, far back in antiquity, before men learned to 
write things that happened, the Chinese observed some little 
worms feeding upon the leaves of the mulberry trees and the 
cocoons of fine thread which finally took their place. They 
learned how to care for the worms, and how to unwind, spin 
and weave the fine threads into the most beautiful of silk cloths. 

Hundreds of years ago some monks stole some silk worms 
from China and brought them to Europe. Mulberry trees 
were obtained from another place and the making of silk was 
commenced in Europe. The raising of silk worms spread from 
China to southeastern Europe also and is now carried on wher¬ 
ever the climate is suitable for the growing of mulberry trees. 

The mulberry tree thrives in the southern half of our own 
country, and in California. We are all familiar with the pleas¬ 
ant tasting little berries borne by the trees. Since the tree 
grows here, why do we not raise our own silk worms, prepare 
the threads and weave silk cloth? We would save millions 
of dollars which we now spend for silk in China, Japan, Italy 
and France. Sometimes a single cargo of silk from China un¬ 
loaded in San Francisco is worth a million dollars. 

We have already learned in our geography studies that 
some things, a certain kind of fruit for example, may grow in 
our country, and yet cost us so much more to produce that it 
would pay us better to turn our attention to other things and 
buy that particular fruit in some foreign country where the 
people can produce it cheaper than we can. 

The raising of silk worms and the production of cocoons 
have been tried in southern California, but the cost of labor 


THE WORLD 195 


is so gieat that thus far we have been unable to make the 
business profitable. 

In far away China there are millions of people willing to 
take care of the silk worms for a few cents each day. Once 
the unwinding of the cocoons and the preparation of the silk 
thread was all done by hand. Now there are factories in both 
China and Japan in which the cocoons are unwound by ma¬ 
chinery. Hand looms are still in use for weaving the thread 
into cloth for the natives, who, with the exception of the very 
poor, wear more or less silk. The beautiful silk coats of the 
Chinese mandarins or nobles are covered with wonderful hand¬ 
made embroideries. 

We buy some silk cloth from China and Japan, but most 
of the silk comes in thread and is woven into cloth in our 
Eastern factories. Throughout the Mediterranean region as 
well as in western Asia, the country people produce some silk 
and make attractive cloths to sell to tourists. 

WE APPRECIATE FURS VERY MUCH IN COLD WEATHER, 
BUT IS IT NOT TOO BAD THAT THE HUNTERS WHO 
GET THEM FOR US HAVE TO LEAD A HARD LIFE AND 
ENJOY FEW LUXURIES? 

Animals, no matter where they live, have a skin covered 
with hair or fur. The fur of those in the hot belt is short 



Weaving silk cloth upon hand looms in China. 











196 


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and poor, as we would expect it to be. Those in the tem¬ 
perate latitude in which we live have better fur, but it is 
only in the far northern part of the temperate belt and on 
the edge of the Arctic regions that the animals are found 
whose furs are most prized. 

There is another thing besides heat and cold that helps 
us to find the home of the fur-bearing animals, and that is the 
distribution of the forests. We would not look in an open 
prairie-like country for fur-bearing animals, since they seek 
those regions where they can find hiding places and protection, 
and it is only in forests and rocks that this is to be had. The 
hunters of fur-bearing animals have, then, to make their homes 
in cold, forested lands, far from the comforts of life. I am 
sure you would not like to change homes with the white hunt¬ 
ers or with those of the wild and uncivilized native hunters 
who live in the land of fur-bearing animals. 

We have already learned that once many fur-bearing ani¬ 
mals roamed over the United States, especially the northern 
part. As the hunters followed the little animals without pity 
and the forests were cut down and the land farmed, the ani¬ 
mals were either killed off or sought the wild lands in the 
mountains, or in the far north. In these regions the forests 
still remain undisturbed. No farmers have settled in them and 
only the prospectors and hunters know their wild recesses. 

If you will look at the map of the world you will find that 
most of the cold land lies in the Northern Hemisphere. In 
the Southern Hemisphere there is only a little cold land at the 
extreme southern end of South America. Travelers to this 
cold region say there are so few wild animals to be found there 
that even the few Indians inhabiting it find difficulty in get¬ 
ting game enough to keep themselves alive. North America, 
on the contrary, was literally filled with wild game when the 
white man first entered it. 

In the high and cold Andes mountains of South America 
there is a group of animals, some species of which were do¬ 
mesticated by the Indians, but their coats are more in the 
nature of wool than fur. The Indians of the Andes are so 
put to it for winter covering, though they live almost on the 
equator, that they tamed the llama, alapaca and vicuna, rais¬ 
ing them for their warm wool, which is sheared in the same 
way as that of sheep, and for food. 

It would hardly pay us to go to Africa in search of furs, 


THE WORLD 


197 


because this continent has no cold lands except upon the slopes 
of a few high mountains. 

Fur-bearing animals do not remain where people have 
thickly settled, so that we would also be wasting time hunting 
for them in southern and western Europe. 

There remains, then, of all the lands of the earth only 
northern North America, northern Europe and northern Asia 
or Siberia in which we can expect to find valuable furs. 

The native people of the cold forests and arctic tundras 
are much alike as regards their manner of life. The Indians 
of northern Canada, the Lapps of Europe and the Yakuts of 
Siberia lead a poor, hard life in search of food and skin cloth¬ 
ing. Until the white hunters came with their guns, the wild 
animals were not in danger of extinction. The Hudson Bay 
Fur Company has stations all over the northern part of North 
America. To these stations the Indians each spring bring the 
pelts they have taken and get from the agents luxuries which 
once they knew nothing about. 

So highly are furs prized by civilized people that all the 
northern regions are now being hunted over so thoroughly 
that each year the furs become scarcer and cost more. So 



The members of this Lapp family are all dressed in furs. Meat forms 
their only food except in summer when there are 
birds’ eggs and berries. 




198 


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valuable did Russia believe the furs of Siberia to be that she' 
conquered it chiefly for them. Russian soldiers, fur hunters 
and traders went over the country together. 

But fur-bearing animals are not confined to the land. 
Seals, sea otter and some others once lived on land, making 
their homes in the north and growing a fine furry coat. When 
they went to live in the ocean they had, of course, to change 
their legs to paddles, but they kept their fine fur coats, for 
the northern ocean is very cold. The animals raise their 
young on the land but spend most of their lives in the water, 
where, in search of food, they travel hundreds and even thou¬ 
sands of miles. 

The beautiful sea otter is almost extinct, but the fur seal, 
which raises its young on the Pribylof Islands, in Bering Sea, 
is carefully protected, so that we shall probably always have 
seal-skin furs. 



A postman making his rounds in the cold north 






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199 


CHAPTER 25. 

TREES AND PLANTS OF OTHER LANDS AFFORD US IM¬ 
PORTANT MATERIAL FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES. 
WHICH WAY SHALL WE GO TO FIND THEIR NATIVE 
HOME AND THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPLY THEM? 

Fiber plants interest us, first, because they possess so 
great a value. 1 he handsome cloth known as burlap and the 
coarse fiber jute are produced from Indian hemp, which is cul¬ 
tivated over immense areas in the hot, wet valley of the lower 
Ganges river in India. It is from this region that the jute 
comes that is used in the manufacture of barley sacking car¬ 
ried on by the California State Prison. 

Common hemp thrives wherever flax can be grown and 
a great deal is produced in Europe. The fiber is used for 
cordage and coarse cloth. Hemp also thrives in the United 
States, but we do not raise much because it requires so much 
hand labor. Hemp is grown in a great variety of climates, 
from the tropics to northern Russia, and is cultivated by all 
sorts of people who are civilized enough to wear clothing. It 



In Normandie, France, the women beat out the fiber of the hemp. 
This work has to be done by hand and that is the reason 
we grow so little in the United States. 




200 


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must have at least three months of summer in which to ma¬ 
ture, without danger of frost. 

Sisal hemp comes from nearer home, for the plant is a 
native of Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. One 
kind grows in California, where it is known as the agave or 
century plant, because it takes so many years for it to get 
ready to send up its gigantic flower stalk. Like some other 
plants of dry lands the agave grows with little care, but will 
become much larger if given an abundance of water. In the 
hot district of Yucatan, in southern Mexico, sisal hemp is 
grown on immense plantations, being cared for by Mexican 
peons and Indians, who are little better than slaves. 

The best hemp comes from the Philippine Islands, and 
because the shipping point is Manila, we call it Manila hemp. 
It is made from a kind of banana palm, which has long, strong 
fibres. Manila rope costs more in our stores than any other, 

but it is the strong¬ 
est and most last¬ 
ing. The inner and 
finer fibers of this 
palm are used in 
the manufacture of 
gauze and veils. 
This fiber plant 
must have plenty 
of water and a 
moist air, thus dif¬ 
fering greatly from 
the agave. 

A fibre used bv 

m/ 

nurserymen to tie 
up plants is known 
as raffia. This is 
supplied by a palm 
commonly known 
as ‘'wine palm,” 
because from its 
trunk the natives 
of the west coast 
of Africa, where it 
grows, make an in¬ 
toxicating drink. 


A giant yucca tree upon the dry plateau of 
Mexico. At its base is a hedge of agave 
plants (century plant). 





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201 


Bamboo thrives up to a height of two miles above the 
sea,, upon the slopes of the Himalaya mountains in northern 
India. It grows upon the slopes of the Andes mountains in 
South America to a height of nearly three miles above the 
sea. Some varieties grow to nearly one hundred feet in height, 
while others are extremely small, being not much larger than 
coarse grass. In Japan many of the hill slopes are covered 
with a small bamboo, which from a distance looks like grass. 
This bamboo crowds out grass, and as it is tough and unfit 
for cattle to eat, there is very little pasture land in Japan. 
This is one reason the Japanese do not keep cows and hardly 
know the taste of milk. 

To the people of such a treeless land, as is the greater 
part of China, the bamboo is a great blessing, for it grows 
easily and quickly. They use it for every purpose we use 
wood, and for many besides. The bamboo is as necessary to 
the people who live in southeastern Asia as iron is to us. 
They use it in house construction, in making baskets and 
mats, while the young sprouts are cooked and eaten. 

We find the bamboo useful chiefly in making furniture 
and for fish poles. Several kinds of bamboo thrive in Cali¬ 
fornia, and we could grow all we needed if we wished to do so. 

Rattan is another material used in making baskets and 
furniture. It is made from the fibers of a palm that grows 
in southeastern Asia, and is of very great value to the peo¬ 
ple of those lands. 

TO WHAT EXTENT ARE WE CALIFORNIANS DEPENDENT 
UPON OTHER PEOPLE FOR MINERALS AND PRECIOUS 
STONES? 

California first became known through its gold deposits, 
and since that time it has been found to be rich in many other 
minerals. But there are some minerals which are very useful 
and others ornamental that have never been found within our 
borders. 

Nearly everything made of iron, copper, zinc and lead 
comes from the mills and factories in the eastern part of our 
country. We mine copper and send the crude metal to the 
Eastern States, finally getting it back in the form of wire, 
dishes and hundreds of articles of different sorts. 

We usually call coal a mineral, though it is really of veg¬ 
etable origin. California does not have much coal. A part 


202 


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that we use comes across the mountains on the railroads and 
a part from distant lands such as Australia and England. We 
have more fuel oil than we know what to do with and could 
get along very well if we had no coal at all. The mild cli¬ 
mate of the valleys of California makes only a small fire 
needed in our homes, while in the mountains there is plenty 
of wood. 

Tin is one of the important metals of which we have none. 
The tin in our dishes comes from far away East India islands 


and southeastern Asia, where there are large mines. 



In a tin mine, Cornwall, England. The car is 
filled with ore and pushed along the tun¬ 
nel to the shaft when it is lifted 
to the surface. 


The most of the 
precious stones that 
we see in jewelers’ 
windows are useful 
only as ornaments. 
The diamond is an 
exception, for its 
hardness makes it 
very useful to those 
who cut and polish 
stone. 

Platinum is now 
more valuable than 
gold. The most that 
we have comes 
from the Ural 
mountains, be¬ 
tween Europe and 
Asia. The miners 
there do not like to 
work any more, or 
perhaps they can¬ 
not; anyway, plat¬ 
inum has become 
very scarce since 
the World War. It 
is valuable for so 
many purposes in 
various industries 
that we cannot get 
along without it. 


































THE WORLD 


203 


The distribution of minerals over the earth, and how 
they are mined, is not really a part of our geography. But 
as far as the climate, accessibility and means of transporta¬ 
tion have to do with our getting and using them, their study 
belongs in our subject. 

We have now gone over and talked about the leading 
substances which the people of California use, but which they 
cannot find at all, or only in small quantities within their bor¬ 
ders. We have learned something about the countries from 
which these products come, about the people who get them or 
prepare them for us, and how they reach San Francisco or 
Los Angeles. 


INDEX 


Appalachian Mountains, Influence 
of, 96 

Bakersfield, 57 
Bamboo, 201 
Berkeley, 66 
Big Trees, 61 

Cacao, where produced, 174 

California, Advantages of, 7; cli¬ 
mate, 9, 62; streams, 27, 40, 37, 
50; shipbuilding in, 29; disad¬ 
vantages of, 31, 42; Coast of, 
31; scenery of, 33, 61; moun¬ 
tains of, 62; highways of, 62 

Cattle raising, of Eastern States, 
113; of the West, 111, 114; chief 
regions of, 186-192 

Camphor, 176 

Climate, of California, 9, 34; in¬ 
fluence by mountains, 32 

Chicago, 132 

Cities of California, location of, 6-1 
Cinchona, where grown, 175 
Coast of California, 53 
Colorado River, 40, 54, 59-60 
Coconut, uses of, 165 
Coca plant, 176 

Cotton in California, 43; cotton 
belt, 106, 185 

Coffee, where grown, 172 

Dairying in California, 42 

Date palms, 43, 165 

Delta, of Sacramento, 50; of Col¬ 
orado, 59 

Deserts of California, 20, 62; min¬ 
erals of, 25 

East Indies, 139 

Farming in Mississippi Valley 
and Eastern States, 129 


Flax, where grown, 185 

Forest protection, 118 

Forests of California, 20, 21 

Fruit canning, 29 

Fruit growing, 42 

Fur-bearing animals, 195-96 

Great Valley of California, 21, 54, 
56 

Great Basin, 45; mountains of, 48 
Gulf of Lower California, 54 
Hudson Bay region, 100 
Hemp, 200 
Imperial Valley, 54 
Incopah Mountains, 23 
Irrigation in California, 35, 40; in 
Spain, 35, 40; on the Plains, 114 
Jute, 199 

Klamath Mountains, 50 
Leather, 186, 192 
Lincoln Highway, 47 
Long Beach, 75 

Los Angeles, situation of, 55; wa¬ 
ter supply of, 37-39; problem 
of, 69-73, 76 

Lumber industry, 115-117 

Market gardening, 130 

Manufacturing in New England, 
122; in Middle States, 123; in 
Western Highlands, 126; on 
Pacific Coast, 128 

Mediterranean climate, of Medi¬ 
terranean region, 143, 145; of 
California, 14; of Central Val¬ 
ley of Chile, 149; of South 
Africa, 151 ; of Australia, 152 

Metals, 202 

Mining in California, 42, 18; val¬ 
ue of, 27 


Mountains, influence of, 12 
Modesto, 58 

Mississippi Valley, products of, 

104 

National Forests, 119 

Natural barriers in California, 51 

New Orleans, 107 

North America, surface of, 81 ; 
climate of, 82-85; a hunter’s 
paradise, 90; early industries, 
93-95; distribution of early set¬ 
tlers, 95; early transportation, 
101; farmers of, 102; water¬ 
ways of, 102; coasts of, 108-09 

Oakland, 66 

Opium, where grown, 175 

Packing industry, 126 

Palms in California, 164 

Petroleum, story of, 19; indus¬ 
try, 44; importance in Califor¬ 
nia, 19 

Philadelphia, 131 

Prairie region, 99; extent of, 111 

Raffia, 22 

Railroads to California, 48-50; in 
United States, 133 

Rainfall of California, 11 

Rice, 43; distribution of, 168 

Rivers of Western Highlands, 126 

Raisin industry, 26 


Sacramento, 53, 56 

Salton Sink, 41, 60 

San Bernardino Mountains, 21 

San Francisco Bay, 53 

San Francisco, problem of, 66-68, 
76 

San Joaquin Valley, 57 
San Diego, 65, 75 
Santa Barbara, 75 
Santa Monica, 54 2 75 
Sierra Nevada Mountains, 21 
Stock Ranch, life on, 111 
Sugar cane, 168 

Surface features, influence upon 
industry, 17 

Stockton, 57 

Silk, 193 

Tea, where grown, 170 
Trade, reasons for, 178 
Trails to California, 45, 47 
Tropical, 15 

Trade centers, 53-54, 56 

United States, advantages of, 134; 
compared with Mexico, 136; 
compared with Canada, 13/ ; 
disadvantages of, 137 

Volcanoes, 62 

Wool, where produced, 176-182; 
why worn, 182 











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